matrixman92
Member
yeah, I actually liked Unity. I argued against that ridiculous OT for syndicate that was headed by stuff about glitches and other bullshit, when in reality Syndicate was pretty polished. Wasnt fair to Syndicate.
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"Why I Quit My Dream Job at Ubisoft" (blog post from former AC: Syndicate developer)
- Thread starter sflufan
- Start date
yeah, I actually liked Unity. I argued against that ridiculous OT for syndicate that was headed by stuff about glitches and other bullshit, when in reality Syndicate was pretty polished. Wasnt fair to Syndicate.
Palette Swap
Member
I'm genuinely surprised they really started working on AC:S right after Unity shipped.
I kind of assumed they had already massive resources dedicated to the next project for years, not just the last year. I wonder how their roadmap and resource affectation works.
I kind of assumed they had already massive resources dedicated to the next project for years, not just the last year. I wonder how their roadmap and resource affectation works.
You are for actively derailing the thread towards this particular (and irrelevant) issue.
If this does indeed happen, please try to remember that you're the one that brought it up
Anyway, interesting insights in this blog post. I mean, we all kind of assume that these reasons are why people go indie in general, but the insight into the development process of games that big isn't something we always get. So that's cool
(now watch him make a tower-based indie game
)So far you're the only one doing it.
Aces&Eights
Member
Then maybe you could offer a counter argument and contribute to the conversation instead of just dropping a lame shit post and gif.
OT. I imagine this is the scenerio in any major studio. When you have too many chefs in the kitchen, the food usually loses its quality and appeal. They need Gordon Ramsey in there as a project manager.
PseudoViper
Member
Wow, that's crazy, but totally respectable and understandable. I guess happiness does conquer all, well.. that and the fact that he's confident in himself. Idk, many people that would leave their job (dream or not) if they weren't happy.
Well, that seems very typical of the AAA development model.
I'm not speaking from any experience, but if you have a creative impulse I can see that environment being draining. You very likely won't be the person who changes the direction of a game 200 people are working on. You'll much more likely be the third person to work on programming the UI.
Good luck to the guy. I hope he has success in the new direction he's taking.
I'm not speaking from any experience, but if you have a creative impulse I can see that environment being draining. You very likely won't be the person who changes the direction of a game 200 people are working on. You'll much more likely be the third person to work on programming the UI.
Good luck to the guy. I hope he has success in the new direction he's taking.
It really is. Production cost is too high, because of that, the risk is too high and the time scales will be stupidly short. Something needs to happen in this regard.
Starsailor
Banned
We already know who is running the AC franchise: Jean Guesdon.
Each time he was on an AC game it was "good".
some that he wasn't in charges are AC3 and AC5 (except AC3 is my favourite but i understand why some don't like it).
That's why AC didn't change enough since few games.
Each time he was on an AC game it was "good".
some that he wasn't in charges are AC3 and AC5 (except AC3 is my favourite but i understand why some don't like it).
That's why AC didn't change enough since few games.
SomeOneInaHat
Member
I'm really interested in finding out the game the guy in the article ends up making. A lot of ex-Ubsoft employees have turned around amazing stuff in the past. Hope the best for this guy. Do we know who this guy is? I read the OP, but didn't see a name. I only know that he worked on Surfs Up, POP Wii, and Syndicate.
crooked spin
Member
This is a problem common to almost all industries. Sometimes working in a silo in a big company is not fulfilling creatively.
He seems to dislike how collaborative giant projects have to be, which probably isn't helped by Ubisoft's tight deadlines and giant teams. He also seems to be speaking using examples from design and art without much understanding. A level artist will have placed lots of stuff, not just a lamp post. Designers' influence is clear. Maybe engineering wasn't his ideal career choice.
Starsailor
Banned
I feel like that too. I don"t really understand what's surprising about this.
Glad the guy was able to realize that he didn't enjoy what he was doing and moved on to something that gave him more freedom. The AAA gaming machine doesn't seem all that great.
You're picking a weird hill to die on since that really hasn't happened in this thread.
You're picking a weird hill to die on since that really hasn't happened in this thread.
General Lee
Member
Whose dream job is to be a cog in the machine? That's what you can expect to be when a game has 1000 devs making it. Even the project leads are probably tied behind their backs as to how much creative freedom they'll have.
Starsailor
Banned
We never know what would happen if i didn't made my gif "point" at the beginning of this topic, sadly =/
EatinOlives
Member
The "taste of the forbidden fruit" is what seems to have done his enthusiasm for AAA game development in. With small-team projects having control over every aspect of the game, from technical to artistic, is what keeps a person's workday fresh and new. At the very least he left for creative reasons and not a more stressful one ("e.g., endless crunchtime")
Then why even post in the thread? You seem to have already made up in your mind exactly what'll be in it.
Then why even post in the thread? You seem to have already made up in your mind exactly what'll be in it.
Blooddimond
Member
It's a good thing this article is more about AAA development and how game development has exponentially grown in size than about arguing whether a franchise is shit or not
That was my thought as well. It's probably enhanced by how often Ubi would push out an AC game, adding to the feeling of being one specialized cog in a massive machine and you have zero say unless you're a very large or very loud cog.
Hope his indie project takes off, whatever that ends up being.
He says so right there. His job consists of answering emails and going to meetings.
Starsailor
Banned
That's why i'm thinking that the most creative project in those business is not the "informatical" job but those with degrees and research behind projects.
Sociologist or Historians working at ubisoft for each AC for example.
Did you actually... read the article?
"I hate big team-sizes and e-mails with faceless people. This is why I left Ubisoft. Oh and I did two prototypes that got cancelled but I can't tell you anything about them because legal reasons!"
Much ado about nothing, really. I mean we can bicker about team-sizes day-in/day-out and the valid up/down-sides to those, but that above sentence is basically the blog post. Nothing against Ubisoft beyond "THEY CANCELLED MY MULTIPLAYER PROTOTYPES! ARGHHH!"
ElBoxyBrown
Banned
Or how about you read the article and talk about the subject at hand instead of assuming a thread is going to derail like what you are doing now.
DrGonzo615
Banned
Did none of those 10 stuidos work on the AI?
Starsailor
Banned
Well
Maybe i jumped the shark to early. Sorry about that Gaf.
Maybe i jumped the shark to early. Sorry about that Gaf.
RedAssedApe
Banned
Being a manager on these aaa games must suck.
Starsailor
Banned
Well for AC the AI has quite developed since AC5.
But yeah it's nothing like MGS5 of course and AC is still ridiculous with that.
Dick Justice
Banned
Thats actually pretty huge, and a primary example of How this coeporate culture is homogenizing the industry.
Lets takenew ubisodt back a mete generation and a half. We are in the middle of the sixth gen, except we plug in 'new' factory line ubisoft where old ubisoft was.
Beyond good and evil would have been one of those prototypes cancelled without ever seeing the light of day.
GHG
Member
I can relate to this but in a different capacity (not game development) This basically reads like a typical issues that plague larger companies.
Having previously worked for a large American company with over 50,000 employees I can safely say never again.
Good on him for being brave enough to break out and do something completely different. Most aren't and just get swallowed up not the trap.
Having previously worked for a large American company with over 50,000 employees I can safely say never again.
Good on him for being brave enough to break out and do something completely different. Most aren't and just get swallowed up not the trap.
Been waiting to use that forever now.
But seriously if you thought going to work at one of the big publishers was going to be some creative tour de force career, especially without a lot in your portfolio, I think that's on you.
We hear about this stuff all the time, and not just talking about Ubisoft.
Nothing he posted was anything we didn't already know.
I wonder how many PM's would be on a AAA project. It can't just be one across the offices. The stress they must be from stakeholders must be insane.
entremet
Member
Read the article to find out.
Hint: It's not if you're thinking about the EA spouse story. This is about the challenges of AAA development.
Blooddimond
Member
You didn't "jump the shark" too early. You actively dismissed people telling you to read the article saying you knew what it was about already, even though a quick glance through it could tell you it wasn't about that at all.
This is a really damaging myth.
Shit like the ubisoft factory line is not necessary for large involving games with immersive graphics.
Its one of the primary reasons the AAA incumbents were so keen on wiping out the mid tier.
"The customers have stopped enjoying our radio towers! We don't know what to do! Please help us, tower expert!"
"Cell."
"Cell? What do you mean?"
"Cell.....towers"
"Cell towers? Cell Towers.... CELL TOWERS! YOU ARE A GENIUS! GIVE THIS MAN ANOTHER RAISE!"
shadowsdarknes
Member
Then leave?
lensoftruth
Member
Dude, it's OK to like crap games, we won't hold it against you
This is part of why I, a programmer trained as a game developer but currently working at a non-game software company, am so hesitant to get a job in AAA. It seems absolutely passion-destroying, soul-crushing, and impersonal. But I don't know of any other way to get the relevant experience I would need to go indie in the long run...
How do you develop a franchise if you localise development to a single office which causes the time-frame of the release to multiply by multiple factor?
Except not really? Some people don't mind the assembly line. A lot of people do. Going by the title of the blogpost, you expect some Earth Shattering "EA_Spouse" level of post where "UBISOFT IS THE DEVIL AND TREATS THEIR EMPLOYEES LIKE SLAVES!"
Instead it's "I just don't like the culture of large AAA titles. *shrug*"
...Annnnnd? Given they've "totally not cancelled (but it's cancelled)!" Beyond Good and Evil 2, maybe those prototypes this dev worked on have the same "this won't really sell to make the investment worth it" factor that Beyond Good and Evil's possible back in the day cancellation would've had.
Starsailor
Banned
I overreacted . Sorry (and i'm really sorry).
It's just i saw this article about a devloper quiting ubisoft, who worked on Syndicate. I just assumed that this was how the topic is gonna ending.
The day few hours before first reviews of syndicate, the game was bashed, explode by everyone here (except crossingeden of course). We knew the same day that Bolloré wanted to buy actions from ubisoft and i saw gaffers saying "YES KILL UBISOFT!" or shit like that.
And then, reviews popped and Syndicate had very goods reviews. And many change their vest. "Omg syndicate is good? cool" . I mean, all this shit about AC came up because one guy drop the "glitch face bug" that was on his PC because he didn"t have the day one patch BECAUSE it was a piracy version. I mean...
well, sory for the overreaction. I didn't expect to justify myself for that but i'm quite sick of seeing assassin's creed games being bashed each years since AC4, because...well i don't know.
As for the article, i don"t know what's surprising about that. I'm thinking that the job of creating and making worlds are much better than just "coding" and being a devlopper, sadly for them.
Dude, it's OK to like crap games, we won't hold it against you
You're going to burn out Crossing Eden's angrier and edgier cousin.
Starsailor
Banned
Are you implying that the mid tier mass extinction was engineered? I'm legitimately curious. That's always something I've wondered about.
FlashFlooder
Member
Multimillion dollar company runs it's business like a multimillion dollar company.
Working on large projects with large teams causes specialization.
More at 11!
Working on large projects with large teams causes specialization.
More at 11!