Ubisoft dives deep into Mobile Gaming with three new games

Recently, developers have been making stronger and more tangible advances in the realm of mobile gaming. As mobile gaming becomes increasingly popular, more developers are stepping up to create meaningful experiences for gamers on the go. For years, mobile esports have been expanding in terms of popularity and value, but now, developers are seeking to build titles that bring full-fledged adventures to handheld devices.

At Ubisoft Forward, a prestigious showcase event, the developer revealed three brand new titles coming to handheld devices. It was almost disproportionate, as Ubisoft stepped up to reveal that three of its top franchises, including the flagship series, Assassin’s Creed, would be heading to mobile. Within the next year, we’ll have fully-developed, mobile versions of Rainbow Six, The Division, and Assassin’s Creed.

Here’s what Ubisoft announced at the UbiForward event:

• Rainbow Six Mobile: A free-to-play, multiplayer-based first-person shooter that’s almost identical to Rainbow Six Siege.
• The Division: Resurgence: A ‘AAA experience’ set in New York City – an open-world title boasting PvP modes.
• Assassin’s Creed: Codename Jade: An open-world Assassin’s Creed experience in which the protagonist is designed entirely by the player.

It’s a great list of games, and as mobile gaming technology becomes more advanced, the experiences are becoming just as unforgettable as those found in the world of ‘traditional gaming’.

While these games aren’t Ubisoft’s first foray into the mobile market, they’re set to be the best examples yet. At Ubisoft Forward, some fairly ambitious and bold content was revealed, including an open-world, fully customizable Assassin’s Creed experience like nothing fans have seen before. As mobile gaming is essentially the most accessible form of gaming and it boasts the potential of billions of users, it makes sense that Ubisoft would attempt to break into the market.

Recently, other firms have made inroads into the space, such as Sony, which moved to acquire Savage Game Studios, a mobile-first developer, at the end of August. For years, mobile gaming has gone from a joke topic to an industry-leading vertical, and some mobile experiences are infinitely more valuable than mainstream, console-based releases. Furthermore, mobile esports have reached a point now where they’re just as popular, if not more so, than traditional esports.

In case you don’t know why big companies are diving into mobile gaming, we’ll give you some of the reasons. Firstly, it’s a money-making tactic, as most mobile games are free-to-play, meaning that some kind of premium payment model can be attached to them. For instance, ‘tokens’ or ‘coins’ can be purchased to buy things in-game, such as cosmetics, emotes, and ‘sprays’. It’s the most common way mobile developers make money, and it’s an extremely shrewd model.

Furthermore, there’s an overwhelmingly enormous market out there for mobile gamers, with estimations placing the collective audience around the two billion user mark. For a franchise like Assassin’s Creed or Rainbow Six, it makes a huge amount of sense to ‘go mobile’, enabling Ubisoft to reach a dramatically huge audience. And, for Rainbow Six esports, the mobile aspect could introduce an entirely new angle on what is already a very popular ecosystem.