Ubisoft Developing Next America's Army Game

altodarknight writes "Ubisoft annouced today that they are developing the new America's Army game: 'America's Army: Rise of a Soldier'. Working with the US Army, it will be released summer 2005 on XBox and PS2. The only question is, will it be free like past AA games?"

Gonna go out on a limb and say.

[rogabean]

It probaly won't be free.

1. They have had great success with the game and it has grown into it's own franchise.

2. Distribution costs

3. Can you really se Ubisoft doing anything for free?

course it wont be free

[cassidyc]

the same what that Full Spectrum Warrior isnt

Re:Gonna go out on a limb and say.

[WhatAmIDoingHere]

Not to mention this picture is actually a fake, as proven by snopes: foto [freespeech.org]

Look around under "photos" for the original. I think it originally said "We're Ready"

Re:Gonna go out on a limb and say.

[Mork29]

Charging money for this would actually be alot of legal work. Ubisoft will get their money, but it will probably be US tax dollars that pay them. The Army has a huge budget, and the recruiting budget has gone through the roof as of late. Retention is a bit of a problem, so they have to get new soldiers to fill the ranks. I'm sure that they could develop a game for under $1,000,000. That is a trivial amount of money on the scale of the militaries budget. I work in a supply unit and I see that figure get spent several times a day in food, water, and mechanical parts. Besides, it IS an effective recruiting tool. On average, the army spends around $4,000 for every person who signs up for the army. That includes no training, no plane ticket to basic, just to get them in the door and signing their name. I'm sure that figure has gone up even more since I've come in. Also, I don't think the Army can legally sell a commercial product (they can auction off certain surplus, but that's different). In fact, I don't think any govvernment agency can (or the IRS would probably have their own version of Turbo Tax). Besides, if it's a console game, it'll have to be on a disc. You'll have to go to the recruiter to get that disk. He'll probably ask you a few questions before he gives up the disk. In the end, people will go to the recruiter to get a free game, and feet in the door is all they need. Selling the Army is the easy part, it's getting them into the office the first time that's difficult. A free game will do that, but a game you charge for won't. Well, that's my $.02 Oh, and IAAS.

Re:Oh the irony!

[Alarash]

Hi,

Ubisoft is a french from France company, created by the Guillemot brothers. They also possess the Hercules hardware manufacturer (formelly known as the... "Guillemot" brand). Ubisoft also posses GameLoft, a cellphone games developper.

The company is spread like this:

- Headquarters are in Montreuil, a city right next to Paris. A few games are developped there, like Rayman. That's also where the websites are designed.
- European warehouse is located in Bretagne (a France's departement, what you guys in US would call a state althought it's quite different).
- And last but not least, the main development studio is located in Montreal, Canada. Games like Splinter Cell or Farcry are developped there. This is also where most of Ubi.com teams are located (aka the evil GMs that get you banned in Shadowbane or EverQuest Europe). The reason is that the Canadian government made a very, very good offer to Ubisoft, and as a result it's 40% cheaper for the management to send people there rather than having them work in France (where social security, health care and transports are to be payed at least at 50% by the company, that's the law).

Re:Gonna go out on a limb and say.

[Richard_at_work]

Also the picture that says 'Demonic American soldier humiliating an Iraqi man held prisoner' is a BRITISH soldier, hes holding an SA-80 and wearing British issue desert combats. Doesnt add a lot of credence to the claims of that site.

GOOD!

[xchino]

I used to be an avid America's Army player, until I got so sick of all of the bugs. Half of the weapons dont work and aren't used in any maps, like the shotgun and fists.. which have been bugged for years. It also runs like absolute crap. I can play Doom 3 and HL2 both at 1024x768 with moderate settings and they play smoothly. With all the settings turned down in AA, I still get lag on any map more compliacted than Bridge Crossing. Sometimes it would bug causing your teammates to look like OpFor. I once hit a guy in the chest with a 203 round, it exploded, and didn't do a single bit of damage. This game is written like crap, and any time you complain to the community about it, you get 1000's foreigners crying "Quit bitching! It's FREE!". Well no sir it is most certainly not free to us Americans who's tax dollars were used in its creation. I have no problem with them making a game for recruitement but I would expect it to at least be commercial quality, i have seen open source projects done better than that game. I have since quit AA completely, and play Counter Strike Source exclusivly, but if Ubisoft can make this game, and make it right, I very well might switch back. Under current circumstances however, I find it to be unplayable.