Back in April, Ubisoft took a break from its assembly line production of Assassin's Creeds and other money-draining AAA projects to release a curious little RPG for digital platforms called Child of Light, which was met with strong critical acclaim. Now the game's director, Patrick Plourde, can proudly exclaim that Child of Light is profitable.
In an interview with GameIndustry.biz, Plourde explained how he went from leading the Far Cry 3 team to working on such a small project:
[T]he main reason why I got greenlit on the project was because I had carte blanche for making Far Cry 3. I didn't want to make Far Cry 3, but they said, "Pat, if you do that and help build that brand, we're going to give you a free shot at the game you want."
The game's budget was only about a couple million dollars, and the largest the team ever got was around 40 people, but the feedback from fans has touched him in a way he "hadn't been able to achieve working on blockbuster AAA games."
In light of all the bad news surrounding Ubisoft these days — from delays to critical bugs to the recent embargo fiasco — the fact that what essentially amounted to a hobby project could do this well for such a big company speaks volumes. Plourde had previously expressed worry that the development cycle at Ubisoft was killing creativity. Hopefully, Child of Light's performance will convince Ubisoft to invest more time in less expensive games that are free to take risks that bigger ones cannot.
Child of Light is currently available on Windows, Wii U, PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.
