She rose to fame as the face of Assassin's Creed, but now Jade Raymond is the boss of Ubisoft Toronto. Her mission: to build a new generation of Splinter Cell games, and make them more engaging before we all get bored of shooting people. We spoke to her about how she sees it working out.
You've talked about the importance of the games industry growing up and embracing more mature themes. Is that something you get to do at Ubisoft?
I think we have to. Honestly, I think we are underestimating our audience - they're looking for something more. I mean, just based on the people I work with, the new generation of gamers want games to be about something else than just a context for killing 500 people within ten hours.
I think we have to embrace more mature themes. Ubisoft is a great company for that because our chief creative officer is always pushing teams to think about the meaning and what we want to say, and how to develop game systems and stories that will get players thinking. We are encouraged to take risks, although obviously not on every project, because sometimes you have to ship a game within a certain timeline and there just isn't time to think about those things.
Any time you are trying to innovate or come up with new gameplay, deal with new subject matter, maybe even come up with a new genre, it obviously takes a lot of time to get the recipe right. Fun will always win, so if you try something and it's not fun then you're going to go back to the tried and true recipes.
Well I can't say too much about Splinter Cell, but we have been spending a lot of time on the brand because Ubisoft isn't working just on the next game, but the whole brand, long-term. So we've been thinking about different media, not only companion games but what we do with the books, or with the film. There is a concept at the core of the franchise that really lends itself to some of these explorations. We are trying to bring that to life.
What do you want Ubisoft Toronto to represent? Is there a signature quality you want to bring to the games that you produce?
Of course. I'd like it to be innovation, I'd like our games to surprise people. I don't think it needs to be mutually exclusive, providing entertainment and surprise in some way. So I'd love us to be known for that but in terms of building a culture we're also really trying to create something, a culture of openness, and have that go throughout the studio. I think there's a great opportunity, when you're building a studio from scratch, to absorb everyone's best practices because you get a chance to recruit people from all over the industry.
10 comments so far...
hugheyb on 15 Aug '12 said:
I place a great deal of faith in Miss Raymond. She is one switched one lady. I'm looking forward to the next Splinter Cell...probably I will be hanging upside down from pipes with three toilet roll tubes sellotaped to my forehead in anticipation.
Clanger67 on 15 Aug '12 said:
Yeah she has got some interesting things to say and agree with some of them.But she has still f**ked the SC series up,so if there is going to be a long series and they are all like Blacklist that's me out.Why didn't you just have the courage to do a reboot without Sam,it's all the rage nowadays because so many series' have lost their way.
CunningSmile on 16 Aug '12 said:
I think part of that she touched on by saying she had often worked on sequels to games never meant to have sequels, with plots that didn't really allow it. Also gamers are weird compared to other media in a constant demand for sequels. Lets face it Final Fantasy is at what part 14 that are numbered? Not to mention 300 spin offs and the number defying stuff like XIII-2. How many cinema goers are going to turn up for Bourne 14 never mind Bourne 35? Is it any wonder franchises are changing considering you could easily argue that the average story franchise just doesn't have that many stories it can tell?
Clanger67 on 16 Aug '12 said:
Yeah fair enough Cunning and i am not trying to sound like don't try to innovate.But it isn't even SC anymore.It won't be Sam anyway.Given the tech. nowadays they could have done some amazing things with the stealth from the first ones.Ubi. definition of stealth is sneak around a bit all just so you can mark targets,knife targets,point being it all leads to the same thing.I am not saying that i never didn't kill anyone in the early ones but you got the choice and where actively put off because it used to count against you if bodies got found.I just hate the way the industry is going and turning great stealth use your brain titles into shoot fests.
CunningSmile on 16 Aug '12 said:
I actually hate any game where you don't have choice about how to approach an objective. I recently replayed Chaos Theory (which I really enjoyed first time) and hated it purely because I'd forgotten how much I hate insti-death missions that fail you because you stepped foot outside the programmers idea of what you should do.
Sam is one of the greatest secret agents in the world and we are supposed to believe there was no plan B if someone steps out a toilet at the wrong moment? Conviction was too far the other way (still enjoy it though) but I'd probably stop playing if they went back to so called 'pure' stealth.
Clanger67 on 16 Aug '12 said:
Yeah but that is based on a game seven years old and my point that given the advances in AI,character animation etc.,you could have so much more.The Hitman series hasn't suddenly become a shoot fest and some of those probs. existed in the early ones.Dishonoured is giving you the choice to do either,but crucially if you stealth it you are a total shadow all the way through the Lvl.
You are right Conviction was too far the other way but Blacklist doesn't look like it is gonna be any different,maybe worse.Marry that to the fact it won't even sound or feel like Sam Fisher or anything that has gone before and it isn't SC is it.
CunningSmile on 16 Aug '12 said:
But both Dishonored and Hitman have Plan Bs, in both you can go all guns blazing if you wanted even if originally you planned on stealth. In fact Hitman was condemned for exactly that when first announced with loud crys it had lost the stealth options. Just because we haven't seen it doesn't mean Blacklist won't be the same, after all stealth previews really badly because no one wants to go to an E3 conference and watch someone not move for twenty minutes, so they only show the action play through.
And no matter how you change the AI or character animation any game that says "this is how you must play this and you will fail if you deviate in any way" is a poor game.
Clanger67 on 16 Aug '12 said:
Yet i watched a dev. video and the heading was Ubi. talk about the stealth in Blacklist.All he spoke about was being able to use a knife that was it all the rest was crap,drivel.
CunningSmile on 16 Aug '12 said:
IO got the same flack when the new Hitman was showcased. It wasn't until almost a year later they had the other play throughs at a state to show them off that you started to see the more traditional gameplay. As I said people at E3 want to see action and explosions so that's what you show and unfortunately it does mean for months afterwards that's all you have to show, regardless of what question is asked. I sometimes wonder if a bit more honesty in marketing (there's an oxymoron) would help, and allow devs to just come out and say "we have that, but just haven't programmed it yet" when asked about this stuff.
I'm not saying Blacklist will please everyone, but I do think it is still too early to completely condemn it.
Clanger67 on 16 Aug '12 said:
And yet i don't think i am totally alone in fearing the worst.After all it is Ubi. and everything i have seen they are doing game wise doesn't alleviate that.Even AC is a far cry (pun intended) from what it used to be.Far cry is actually the only game by them this year i am looking forward too.But that's because it will do exactly what it says on the tin by the looks of it.