ubisoft and media diversity

Ubisoft and media diversity 

key theory 14- the cultural industries- David Hesmondhalgh 
-media industries seek to minimise risk and maximise profit
(every media product exists to make money)

 vertical integration- a media organisation owning different parts of the mode of products eg. paramount, own film and means of distribution (cinemas)

 horizontal integration- one organisation owning other organisations in the same sector eg. Disney owning other film studios such as marvel 

 multimedia integration- using digital to combine previously separate industries eg. streaming services Netflix 

conglomerate- where a company busy out other companies

 subsidiary- a company that works under another company 


Ubisoft 
  • 4th largest publicly traded game company in the Americas and Europe
  • established in France in 1986 (multi-national)
  •  A horizontally and vertically integrated media conglomerate with a number of studios and subsidiaries
  • their unique selling point (USP) is that they make huge games focus on the production of 'AAA' games with vast budget and high production value, as a result target main stream audiences
  • publishes and develops a range of games in different genre, targeting vast and widely different audiences 
e.g.
assassins creed targets- teenage boys 
watch dogs- targets older generation 
just dance- family audience 

they publish many genre and target many audiences to minimise risk of a particular genre or game no longer becoming popular. they then maximise profit. 

Rayman
-platform game
-usp, had high production value for a 2D platformer 

Just Dance 
- differen music of different genre
-usp, don't need to be a 'gamer' is use it (casual/family game)


Diversification- a media practice an organisation produce a diverse or different range of media products that help target a range or audiences 

 Ubisoft have diversified beyond games, creating assassin's creed film (Ubisoft motion pictures) an example of vertical integration. then targets audiences who don't necessarily play games. 
they have a pre-sold audience from the game itself. 
Key theory 12- power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
  • the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by power and profit
  • media concentration limits variety, creativity and quality
  • more socially diverse patterns of ownership can create more varied and adventurous media productions. 
by focussing on mainstream, big budget development, Ubisoft arguably offer a standardised and generic product.
they have then saturated the market for the assassin creed, simply because they sell.

issues with conglomeration
(released 21 films in 13 years)  

  • limits creativity, only making for money making safe games 
  • limits competition, unless you are another large conglomeration  
  • limits diversity, all target mass audiences  










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