Former Ubisoft creative director: "The future is digital, and there's nothing you can do about it."
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The war between physical and digital media has been an excruciatingly slow one. Services like Steam and GOG have made discs relatively obsolete for PCs, but the rest of the industry has been less than willing to budge. People still find solace in the firm plastic of a case, but former Ubisoft Creative Director Patrice Désilets (Assassin's Creed, 1666: Amsterdam) says a digital future is our only future.
"Yeah, games come on disc, and I get it guys, you were really pissed off," Désilets said at the Gameslab conference according to GamesIndustry International . "But, deep down, nobody cares about not having CDs any more. The future is digital, and there's nothing you can do about it."
While that future has yet to arrive, Désilets said the digital future may be necessary for the "AAA blockbuster" market, which has come under hard times .
"Right now we are at a crossroads in our industry," Désilets said. "But I don't believe the AAA blockbuster will die. Maybe the way it is distributed will change, but it won't die."
In the meantime, Désilets is working on his lawsuit against Ubisoft, which fired Désilets last month after buying the rights to his new game 1666: Amsterdam. Désilets only shared a few words about his game before leaving the stage:
"I'm fighting for it, and that's all I can say for now.”
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