Ubisoft, the renowned video game publisher, has a long history of creating blockbuster titles. Among their successful franchises, the Far Cry series stands out as a fan favourite. However, behind the scenes, there’s a fascinating story involving one of the game directors and an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The offer was made to Patrick Plourde, who was at the time, the creative force behind many Ubisoft titles like Assassin’s Creed 2, Watch Dogs 2, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.
Ubisoft’s offer to Patrick Plourde
Ubisoft approached Patrick Plourde with an enticing offer: Create the best Far Cry game ever and help us build the brand. If you help us do that, you can have free reign at whatever game you want to work on.
After some hesitation, because Far Cry 3 was a massive undertaking, Patrick Plourde took the chance and delivered an immersive open-world experience, compelling characters, and adrenaline-pumping action. The game went on to redefine the open-world genre.
Far Cry 3 boasts a large tropical island which players can explore freely with many varieties of weapons at their disposal. Players can hunt wild animals, uncover hidden relics and even clear the outposts. Thanks to this captivating exploration, engaging gameplay, and memorable characters like Vaas, Far Cry 3 achieved remarkable success, selling 10 million copies worldwide.
After delivering the successful Far Cry 3, Patrick Plourde could finally explore his secret passion: graphic novels. He wanted to create a captivating graphic novel that would resonate with readers worldwide.
Once Far Cry 3 was complete with massive success, Ubisoft kept their end of the deal by giving him an editorial role and he finally had the time and resources to pursue his graphic novel dream.
Patrick Plourde’s next step after Far Cry 3
Patrick Plourde, after Far Cry 3 took a back seat and worked in an editorial role. This allowed him to spend more time on his passion for graphic novels. The dream of Patrick Plourde finally came true when Ubisoft greenlit his next project called Child of Light. The light-novel platforming role-playing game was released in 2014 and was a hit among the players.
Patrick Plourde confirmed that Child of Light generated sufficient profit to potentially fund a sequel. This shows that Ubisoft can take a risk on smaller-scale projects and will give key personnel time to experiment with their imaginations.
Although Patrick Plourde has parted ways with Ubisoft in 2022, he continues to provide feedback on projects as a consultant. After leaving Ubisoft, Patrick Plourde is working as part of an independent consulting agency as well.
