Ubisoft CEO: "Streaming will be the next big thing"

Coming off one of Ubisoft's best E3 showings in years (which for some was the highlight of E3), CEO Yves Guillemot decided to give some time back to the community by taking questions during an AMA on Reddit. Aside from his personal preferences for cheese, chocolate or his love of motorcycle rides, Guillemot talked a bit about the publishing business, his favorite Ubisoft IP and what the future holds.

Interestingly, when asked what he felt the next big leap in gaming technology would be, the chief executive pointed not to VR, AR or 4K, but to game streaming. There's been plenty of talk about the cloud and numerous services have attempted to make a true "Netflix for games," but it's yet to take off. "I think streaming will be the next big thing, but it will take time before it is ready," Guillemot commented. "Streaming will totally change the way we create and play games, and will again positively disrupt how we think about gaming."

Speaking of technological advancements, while Ubisoft is currently working on Far Cry 5, set in Montana, Guillemot actually revealed that he would love to see Far Cry 3 given some new life for the Xbox One X. "Far Cry 3 [remastered] on the Xbox One X would be amazing," he commented. Whether that actually happens, though, is anybody's guess.

And as much as he loves Far Cry, Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed hold a special place in his heart. When asked about proudest moments in his career, Guillemot answered: "I would say the launch of the first Splinter Cell and the first Assassin's Creed were both amazing. They were the culmination of a lot of work and were both great successes. These were both fantastic moments for me as they represent turning points for Ubisoft and a great pay off for big risks that we took. And of course yesterday with Miyamoto was pretty special as well."

As for regrets, Guillemot would have liked to see Ubisoft gain a better foothold in the MMO sector. "I would say we were very strongly investing in MMOs in the late 90's/early 2000s and we stopped that side of the business because it wasn't performing well enough and we should have continued on with that," he acknowledged.

Looking at the industry from the 30,000-foot perspective, Guillemot also noted that he's amazed at just how massive the actual games business has become over the last 30 years. "I thought it would be big, but not this big," he reflected. "What is amazing with this industry is that technology is always giving us fantastic new opportunities to disrupt different genres and segments of games and to create new ones. I believe interactive entertainment is the future of entertainment, and we still have huge opportunities in front of us."

Guillemot also reiterated the importance of fighting for independence and freedom with the threat of a Vivendi takeover still looming. You can read more here.