It’s common knowledge that Ubisoft—the publisher behind hits like Far Cry 3, Assassin’s Creed 3, and My Petz: Monkeys—has been working on games for the next round of video game consoles for some time. Naturally games like Assassin’s Creed and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, and Ghost Recon will return once Microsoft and Sony release the Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 respectively. Ubisoft will be branching beyond its action adventure comfort zone, though, since one of its development partners is currently staffing up for a new role-playing game.
Swedish studio Massive Entertainment is developing a “AAA Online RPG” for next-gen consoles. The company is hiring a Lead Level Designer for the project whose responsibilities will include “defining and realizing the level design vision and pillars” as well ensuring “a gameplay experience of the highest possible quality.” They are also hiring an audio programmer for what is apparently the same game. It’s already brought on Marc Cartwright who was previously working on an MMO with Bigpoint Games.
Massive’s recent work has been predominantly as a collaborator on Ubisoft’s bigger releases over the past couple of years. It was responsible for creating the modern day sequences in 2011’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations as well as portions of Far Cry 3. This new project is also described as being developed by an international team, so other studios in Ubisoft’s network are likely assisting. Ubisoft Shanghai is also reportedly working on a secret next-gen RPG .
Ubisoft’s next-gen plans are starting to take shape. In fall 2011, Rayman creator Michael Ancel said that Ubi’s Beyond Good & Evil 2 hadn’t been seen since a 2008 teaser because he was making it for next-generation consoles. At E3 2012, Ubisoft showed off a trailer for an odd open world action game called Watch Dogs, and while it suggested that it was targeting the current round of consoles with the game, it was also clear that the lead platform would be either next-gen consoles or high end PCs capable of pushing more advanced graphics, physics, and AI. There’s also Rainbow Six: Patriots, a delayed co-operative shooter which CEO Yves Guillemot said has a “good chance” of appearing first on next-gen hardware.
Source: PlayStation Lifestyle
