Ubisoft Executive Approval Not Required For Low-Cost Titles

Despite the fact that Ubisoft hires more employees than almost any other video game publisher on the entire planet, not all aspects of the company are micromanaged under intense scrutiny. In an interview with The Guardian, which focused on the unrealistic expectations they set with the pre-released downgrade of the graphics in Watch Dogs, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, production on some of their games are so open that they have skipped out on the pitching process entirely.

“[Grow Home Managing director] Pauline Jacquey said ‘we’re going to do a game that’s so cheap we don’t need your approval – we have something that’s already good enough,'” Guillemot said. “When I saw it for the first time it was 60% done. I like that approach. When a project costs more than $5m we need to look at it because it can go wrong. But when it’s €200,000 to €300,000, they can make all the decisions they need to to make it happen.”

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The idea that Grow Home was created mostly in secret to higher-ups at Ubisoft is both baffling and encouraging. Without the kind of oversight that we’ve seen from Ubisoft lately (including pre-order slot gambles, microtransaction-laden gameplay, etc.), it gives the developers to focus on bringing forth an honest, humble release. It’s how you get you Valiant Hearts, your Child of Lights, your Grow Homes. Going hands off on some of the passion projects being developed is a good sign, even if the costs have to be extraordinarily low for it to happen.

h/t Videogamer

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