Speaking to GamesIndustry Ubiosft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat has said there's "no room for B-games" in the current market.
"On one end of the spectrum you will have all the big, AAA blockbuster games that [offer] more and more production values, more value for the players, but there will be fewer of them taking a bigger chunk of the market," Mallat commented.
Mallat's thoughts reflect those of Ubisoft Toronto president Jade Raymond who told The Guardian last month that the industry can only support 8-10 AAA titles going forward.
Mallat commented that the lower end of the industry, Facebook, mobile and tablets are – along with AAA games – squeezing out the middle tier of the games' market.
"The in-between, the belly of the market, is the one that just collapsed in a way and disappeared," he noted. "Meaning there is no room for B-games, if I should say so, which proves the point of quality. I think that companies that put quality and consumer value as a primary focus, as we've been doing at Ubisoft, will enjoy great success."
However, Mallat believes the arrival of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 will boost the retail market and has said increased development costs associated with next-gen consoles are "very manageable."
Concerning Ubisoft's development plans Mallat says "It's a question of bringing quality content to the gamers and enjoying great success thanks to that. So it's okay to invest more when you get more in return.
Mallat, pointing to Ubisoft's success last year, claims that the use of larger development teams and cross-studio collaboration have allowed for leaps in productivity.
"That's my recipe for AAA games," he said. "You gather as much talent as possible, and you give them three things: Trust, means, and insane challenges. Usually they come back with pretty good stuff."
Yesterday, Deep Silver's COO said "we're better than the Activisions, EAs, and Ubisofts of the world" because "we make money."
