Ahead of the Games Developers Conference (GDC), Ubisoft announced Ubisoft Scalar, a new cloud-based technology for game development. Ubisoft Scalar aims to unlock the power and flexibility of cloud computing for Ubisoft's game engines, "reducing dependency on player hardware and opening new possibilities in video game development and gaming experiences."
Led by Ubisoft Stockholm and in collaboration with Ubisoft Studios in Malmö (Ubisoft Massive), Helsinki (Ubisoft Redlynx), Bucharest and Kyiv, the Ubisoft Scalar team aims to create a new game development structure focused on creating ideal game designs and experiences instead of working along traditional production constraints.
As a cross-platform, cutting-edge technology, Ubisoft Scalar brings developers and gamers the full freedom and benefits of a cloud-based experience to build the games of tomorrow.
Inspiration like when I was a teenager
Ubisoft Scalar is based on a microservices architecture that independently moves each component and system of traditional game engines to the cloud (AI, audio, physics...). This moves from the closed single-processor systems of today to a decentralized model encompassing a potentially unlimited number of computers. Games using this technology can therefore use an almost infinite computing power to overcome previous limitations in all aspects, so that it will be possible to create huge virtual worlds up to extremely realistic simulations and environments.
With scalability as a key design choice, a key differentiator of Ubisoft Scalar lies in its on-demand philosophy. The technology dynamically starts and stops services that are optimized based on player and developer activities to only use the computing power actually needed in real time. This optimization also includes computationally intensive tasks that are cached and distributed globally so that what has already been computed does not need to be recomputed. Additionally, the flexibility of cloud computing allows development teams to update and improve a service without affecting others, or even add new features to a game without disrupting game sessions. This means there are no patches to download and there is no downtime for players.
Christian Holmqvist, Technical Director at Ubisoft Stockholm: “This is an important moment in our career as game developers. We feel the same inspiration and freedom that we felt when we first started using our home computers as teenagers – the feeling that you can do anything by fully harnessing the power of the cloud for the first time in a game.”
Ubisoft Scalar breaks down the barriers between creativity and technology, allowing developers to focus entirely on game design to deliver radically new player experiences. Thanks to cross-platform and scalable systems, millions of people can gather in a single, shared virtual environment to play new types of games and create massive collaborative gaming experiences. With cloud-accelerated systems, game worlds also reach a new level of persistence, where users' actions can have an immediate and lasting impact on their surroundings, opening up new gameplay possibilities.
Ubisoft Scalar will gradually be made available to all Ubisoft Studios whose future projects require the cloud capabilities. The origin of this groundbreaking technology is Ubisoft Stockholm. They are actively working on a new IP. This exploits the full potential to offer a gaming experience on an unprecedented scale. More information on this project will be announced at a later date.
Ubisoft Scalar is a foundational technology that emerged from the recently formed Production Technology division. It's a transversal group of more than 500 tech professionals dedicated to creating the best tools and technologies to help Ubisoft development teams bring their visions to life.
"Ubisoft builds on 35 years of continuous investment in R&D and proprietary technologies, as technological independence is a key differentiator," said Guillemette Picard, Ubisoft's VP of Production Technology: "Ubisoft Scalar embodies this spirit, expanding both our creativity and our unique co-development model through new, seamless ways of collaborating on a global scale. It is a step forward and an exciting milestone for the gaming community.”
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