Ubisoft: "we have been penalised by the lack of new consoles"

Sony and Microsoft might be happy with an extended console generation - but Ubisoft isn't.

Boss man Yves Guillemot believes that stagnating machinery hampers creativity. That's because gamers settle for the big-brand games they know their friends will have, which, in turn, means publishers settle for making only those big-brand games. It's a vicious cycle.

"If you can't take risks because people don't buy, you don't innovate. And if you don't innovate, customers get bored," Guillemot told Gamasutra.

"What we missed was a new console every five years. We have been penalised by the lack of new consoles on the market. I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.

"It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation," he added.

"Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds, and they are really going after what's best. ... At the end of a console generation, they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

Ubisoft found great success launching new IP Assassin's Creed on this current generation of consoles. Wii-born party game Just Dance has also become a major bread winner for the French publisher.

Ubisoft unveiled new IP Watch Dogs at E3 this year - a game thought to be a cross-generational launch title for the new Xbox and PlayStation consoles as well as for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Ubisoft unveiled a new IP for Wii U, too, called ZombiU. It's a dark, scary and gory survival-horror shooter set in the zombie-infested city of London.