Ubisoft's Raymond on Microtransactions "We Can't Help It"

Ubisoft's Toronto Studio head, Jade Raymond, has been talking microtransactions and how they are inevitable because, well, a a company such as Ubi "can't help it."

The industry veteran was asked in a recent interview: "Do you think the free-to-play and microtransction models are going to become a key part of Triple A console development going forward?" Her response is fascinating.

"Absolutely. We can't help it - the audience for games is becoming broader and even core gamers who are used to buying games in boxes, are spending more of their time on mobile.

"So whether it's longterm gamers or the new generation who started out by playing free games on the web or mobile, we have a whole bunch of people who've been trained to think differently about the way they spend money on games.

"There's an expectation to be able to try for free, and only spend money if they want to. We have to figure out how to make that type of thing work with console games as well."

The fine logic of games industry Newspeak would, it seems, now have it that buying a boxed game that comes with everything you need for one payment is no longer only spending money when you want to now...

Speaking in the lead up to GDC over in the States, Raymond also pointed out to The Guardian's Keith Stewart that, "Also, in games where the business model is changing, you need some designers who are cross-trained with finance people so you can model how different game systems will work. You now need much more complicated ways of calculating the profitability point for your games."

Full interview here.