This year's digital day event from Ubisoft, a chance to sample the company's newest titles, was a strong showcase for the ambitions of a publisher clearly keen to embrace the future of gaming.
With free-to-play (F2P) games proving more profitable than some retail releases, there's an impending shift in how the games industry does business. It's understandable, then, that Ubisoft is extending its biggest brands, including Assassin's Creed and Ghost Recon, into the new arena.
Launching later this year, the tablet-based Assassin's Creed: Utopia offers a distinctly different take on the historical action game, meshing SimCity-style town building and resource management with strategic combat, while conversely, Ghost Recon Online delivers a full-featured squad-based PC title emphasising stealthy commando raids.
Most promising, however, is The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot, its delightfully blunt title the first hint of its sense of humour. Tasked with raiding friends' castles to steal treasures, it features a mix of strategy and real-time combat, with a heavy dose of community-made content. Its blending of gameplay genres bodes well for this 2013 release.
With other series such as Rayman and Call of Juarez getting a similar push on mobile and download platforms – Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network for the latter – Ubisoft is making bold steps to secure its place in a disc-less future.
