Ubi wants to make a Clancy MMO

By Oli Welsh Published 25 March, 2008

Royalties were holding it back before.

Following news that Ubisoft has bought rights to the Tom Clancy name, company boss Yves Guillemot has suggested that the company is interested in making a massively multiplayer game based on the franchise.

"We will be able to adapt the brand to new formats, in particular the MMO format, where the royalties were a big thing holding us back," Guillemot said in a conference call. His comment implies that Ubisoft has been interested in this idea for a while, and that an MMO is near the top of its Clancy wish-list.

Guillemot's comment is further indication that big publishers are now interested in creating MMOs based on their most popular, mass-market brands, and moving away from fantasy content. Activision boss Bobby Kotick kicked around the idea of a Call of Duty MMO some time ago, although Guillemot's words sound more like a serious statement of intent to us.

Guillemot also noted that Ubisoft now has "complete editorial control" over the Clancy universe, which allows for "cross-fertilisation of characters between games, like Super Smash Bros", and could lead to the games publisher becoming "a major player" in film, television and book publishing.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • YourMessageHere #1 4 years ago

    Much as I dislike the political slant of Clancy storylines, there's no denying some kind of unified Splinter Cell/Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon game would be all kinds of great, whether it was MMO or not. I think I'd prefer SP, but if it's an MMO and thus I have to deal with whining american teenagers, I can do that, safe in the knowledge that I'd be able to sidle up to them in the dark and gut them before they ever knew I was there. That would be a fine thing.

    If Noobisoft now owns exclusive rights to the Tom Clancy name, what will be in its place next time he writes a book?

  • wayn3h #2 4 years ago

    @@LOOK@@ WTS +6 NIGHT VISION - BEST IN GAME - SUPER RARE!!!! 10000K - WHISP ME @@LOOK@@

    hmmm. I somehow don't find this news very exciting..

  • BraveArse #3 4 years ago

    I love the cross fertilisation idea - envisions playing a game where one person has an "EndWar" view while sending in other real life players to infiltrate an area Splinter Cell style, while all the while elsewhere a bunch of mates are following orders to seize a position ala GRAW2 to enable Rainbow Six squaddies to infiltrate a building which holds the enemy EndWar style commander....

    /lies down

  • Eraysor #4 4 years ago

    Maybe the Rainbow Six/Splinter Cell/Ghost Recon types could be the character classes? That would be pretty cool.

  • Baronen #5 4 years ago

    It's a really appealing concept BraveArse, but they could (and probably would) fuck up the execution in so many ways they'd might as well not try

  • BraveArse #6 4 years ago

    @ Baronen - oh I know ... I love the new RSLV2 but truth be told it's still buggy as all hell.

    /Is helpless in the face of Clancy games. Except LockDown.

  • The-Bodybuilder #7 4 years ago

    >"moving away from fantasy content"

    Please do.

  • Squire #8 4 years ago

    Yes yes yes, the world needs a good MMOFPS.

    Still waiting for Planetside 2 :(

  • Baronen #9 4 years ago

    @ BraveArse

    Just ordered Vegas 2 myself, region free means I save something like 45% on importing (Norway is crazy expensive), which is a decent price for what seems like little more than a content update. Hopefully they'll have ironed out most of the bugs when it arrives here sometime next week!

  • BraveArse #10 4 years ago

    @ Baronen - "seems like little more than a content update."

    Yeah - tbh it is actually an improvement in a lot of areas - especially if, like me, you came up through the original Rainbows and RS3 on Xbox Live. Some design decisions are imo, pleasingly more hardcore than I expected. Hope you enjoy it. Just don't try and play a ranked game... the gameplay experience is akin to a badly drawn flick book. ;)

  • Xerx3s #11 4 years ago

    A world entirely populated by....soldiers....erm..

  • jaluuk #12 4 years ago

    The auction system would be more interesting if people were allowed to covertly strangle other bidders while throwing disorienting flash bangs...

  • Peew971 #13 4 years ago

    I love Eraysor's idea to make each IP a class. The inclusion of Endwar would be nice too.

  • MouzerMalti #14 4 years ago

    If there where three leading Classes: Spy, RainbowSix and normal soldiers. It could be a fine MMO. but they must rely a lot on strategy and a good storyline (like some post-Apocalyptic War).

    then again I don't think that they will succeed in making a good MMOFPS, the FPS genre alone needs some gameplay polishing.

  • Vaxadrin #15 4 years ago

    Tom Clancy's 5 Year Experience Grind

  • Miths #16 4 years ago

    I'm hoping they have plans for a better online experience than the PS3 version of Vegas 2.
    Unable to join, unable to join, unable to join, server capacity reached, unable to join, "yeah, I got in", lag, lag, lag, kicked :).

  • Nithron #17 4 years ago

    I want a Stalker MMO damnit.

    The gameplay's halfway there already, all we'd need is a way bigger, persistent world..

  • TSYNDMonkfish #18 4 years ago

    Nithron speaks wisely.

  • riz23 #19 4 years ago

    Nay, Nay and thrice Nay. Can you imagine any women playing a Clancy MMO? Can you imagine any men pretending to be women in a Clancy MMO? Few, certainly none worth cybering with. Niche MMO at best.
    Edited by 1 at 25/03/08 @ 21:09