“A big question is how to be successful in this moving world.” Join Olivier de Rotalier at Casual Connect Asia as he shares why creating strong IPs is the best way to thrive in the long-term and Ubisoft’s unique approach to innovation.
Olivier de Rotalier is the Managing Director of Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft Chengdu and Ubisoft Philippines. His current position is the culmination of 16 years of experience working at the French multinational video game developer and publisher.
Olivier began his career outside of the gaming industry at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Lafarge before joining at Ubisoft in 1999. Olivier’s first job at Ubisoft was Cost-Control Manager for the French publishing office, later moving up the management ladder to Finance Director of worldwide production and creating the Business Intelligence department.
In 2008, Olivier was given the opportunity to create Ubisoft Singapore as Managing Director. The studio has since grown 300 strong and is consistently developing AAA titles. At the same time, Olivier has been the Managing Director of Ubisoft Chengdu since 2013 as well as the recently announced Ubisoft Philippines. Ubisoft Chengdu is currently focused on mobile projects and Ubisoft Philippines will collaborate on AAA projects.
Being an entrepreneur within a company
Olivier’s publishing experience has given him great insight into how the market and industry works. As Finance Director, he was exposed to all of Ubisoft’s production studios; watching their projects evolve gave him a deep understanding of what works and what doesn’t.
“I am the entrepreneurial sort and always intended to start my own business,” Olivier noted. “Ubisoft offered me the best of both worlds – the opportunity to stay in the network and create the Singapore studio from scratch. It was an incredible opportunity.”
When asked if he has any advice for someone interested in pursuing the same career path, Olivier remarked that “you have to love taking risks, trying new things and always building your team. Team building requires an acute understanding of people, their strengths and what motivates them to work with others towards a common goal.”
gamers reward quality
Olivier notes that the greatest challenge of game development is to have a clear vision and to stick to it. “The incredible pace of technological innovation in this industry is often an opportunity, but it can also be a distraction,” he said. “You need to pick the right battles.”
When faced with a creative block, Olivier emphasizes the importance of remembering that video game development is a non-linear and iterative process that involves exploration and risk-taking. “Even if I fail, I always learn something,” Olivier said. The most rewarding part of creating video games is seeing the finished product being enjoyed by gamers and living up to, or even exceeding expectations. “It’s amazing to see someone you know playing your game, or watching a title receive critical acclaim. Gamers are a meritocratic bunch, and well-made games usually receive strong praise.”
A particularly gratifying example comes to mind - the studio’s collaboration on the development of Assassin’s Creed III where creating naval battles was the first time Ubisoft Singapore designed a game from scratch. They had to create new technology, new designs and formulate amongst ourselves what the end product should be. “The first iteration was the hardest,” reflected Olivier. “It’s surprisingly difficult to determine what is and isn’t fun. We were decisive on the timeline and closed the open creative process at a certain point. After that, everyone was 100 percent aligned until the game shipped.”
Upon launch, Assassin’s Creed III was a critical and commercial success and was the fastest selling game in the company’s history at the time. Olivier names word of mouth as the ultimate form of advertising as gamers trust their friends’ opinions and reviews. Furthermore, word of mouth advertising is very well-targeted since people don’t talk about things they’re not mutually interested in. “We try our best to talk to our players and maintain a good relationship with the Ubisoft tries to talk to players and maintain a good relationship with the community. Their feedback is instrumental to improving our games,” said Olivier.
daily inspiration: Family and Co-Workers
Olivier is quick to give credit to others when it comes to inspiration. Not only does Ubisoft Singapore have a fun working environment, but there are many passionate people who love their jobs; their big ideas and creativity serve as daily inspiration.
Along with his co-workers, Olivier notes how much his wife and three daughters serve as constant inspiration. “My three daughters are actually my in-house playtest lab. They keep me very much in touch with the social media generation,” says Olivier. “Beyond that, their sense of wonder and imagination helps me de-stress and think more creatively.”
According to Olivier, having a platform that allows you to take risks and iterate on your ideas is essential. “Our teams are comprised of highly creative people, ranging from developers to designers; it is important to respect everyone’s point of view and allow everybody to be heard”. He is also quick to emphasize the importance of understanding your limits – “if you want to think outside the box, you need to know the box first!”
The end result is shipping games that he is immensely proud of. An example is Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Phantoms, one of the first online games of that scale for Ubisoft, developed by Ubisoft Singapore from the bottom up. Designing a free-to-play game and creating an infrastructure was a big challenge, but the team stepped up and the game has been live for four years. Another main achievement was the release of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. To this day, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag is highly acclaimed and was an enormous achievement for such a young studio.
What’s Next?
Moving forward, Olivier sees a lot of potential in virtual reality as the amount the industry has invested in it has resulted in a very promising experience. Ubisoft has already announced two VR games: Eagle Flight and Werewolves Within, and there are more in the pipeline.
“Another big trend is game immersion, which means improving artificial intelligence and developing fresh environments,” says Olivier. “Recent Ubisoft games such as Tom Clancy’s The Division, Far Cry Primal and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate all push the envelope here.”
“We are fortunate to be involved in the creation of so many exciting titles and to have built up our core expertise in AAA games and PC online. We shipped ten AAA games in seven years! Now, our studio is currently leading the development of one of the biggest Ubisoft projects on console and PC. Stay tuned!”
Comments
