Ubisoft: ShootMania will allow FPS community to build their own games
Thomas Paincon explains the company's new ManiaPlanet online portal
Speaking at Ubisoft's Digital Day in London Ubisoft's online brand marketing group manager, Thomas Paincon revealed the company's plans to bring user created content to the FPS market through ShootMania and its new ManiaPlanet portal.
"It will give the freedom to the FPS community to build their own games, to build their own modes," said Paincon, in an exclusive interview with GamesIndustry.biz.
"Because right now ManiaPlanet is just Trackmania 2 Canyon, we can't see the different bridges between both titles. Now it is a concept, but when ShootMania releases next year it will be more understandable to players, how they can benefit from one to the other."
ManiaPlanet will span a number of genres, with players creating the content and benefitting from it, like creating a track on TarackMania 2 Canyon, and then earning money from it to buy new blocks in ShootMania. QuestMania has also been announced which will apply the same model to the RPG genre.
"It has to be seen as an environment. Yes, it takes more time than other titles, Like Ghost Recon Online or Settlers, but its really a mid-term or long-term vision."
TrankMania 2 Canyon was developed by Nadeo, a recent Ubisoft acquisition, and its team of 25 people, which Paincon points out are mostly engineers, not level designers, are focused on building tools so that the community can build the games they want to play.
"And because its not free-to-play there will not be any "I buy this weapon so I'm more powerful." It's a concept, it's a gamble, because its new, but this is the strength of Ubisoft - we have a different mindset," he explained.
"We have Ghost Recon Online at the other end, which is more realistic, team-play, strategy, free-to-play. It's our strength to be able to test the different business models."
In the interview Paincon also explains that the rise in online gaming, a business model that doesn't allow for a fire and forget mentality, will fundamentally the structure of development studios, and give rise to new roles in the industry.