- Ubisoft has decided to consolidate the responsibility for its esports events in one body
- François-Xavier Deniele, the company’s director of esports and competitive gaming, spoke on the matter
- He explained that this move will greatly benefit the company by improving its flexibility and streamlining its vision
François-Xavier Deniele revealed why Ubisoft decided to establish a single global esports department and how it will benefit Ubisoft’s competitive titles.
Ubisoft Changes Its Esports Approach
After six years of running esports events, Ubisoft has decided to replace its regional esports format with a global one. The company’s director of esports and competitive gaming, François-Xavier Deniele, spoke about the restructuring.
He said that the main drive behind this change is the popularity of Ubisoft’s signature title Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege and its continued growth throughout the years.
“As fans have been wanting to know more about our plans, global direction and actions, we’re happy to share that the newly consolidated Esports and Competitive Gaming team will now take on current and upcoming challenges across all strategic topics of the activity, from maximizing broadcast entertainment value; content production and storytelling; to event planning, competitive formats and competition integrity; while supporting game-production teams to create highly engaging competitive experiences for fans to enjoy,” Deniele explained.
How a Single Division Will Benefit Ubisoft Esports?
The director added that establishing a single, global organization will make it easier to coordinate the direction of regional leagues and easily reach more fans and teams. The move is expected to boost the company’s agility when it comes to meeting the demands of its fans. It will allow it to create a multi-year plan and calculate events ahead of schedule.
Deniele elaborated that a single esports division will usher in a new age in Ubisoft esports content and will make things more streamlined for fans, players and content creators alike. Aspiring athletes will have access to leagues that present a clear path from amateur to professional.
The director explained that “there are no one-size-fits-all models in esports” and that each individual competitive title has its own audience and needs its own format – something that will become easier to regulate with a single global esports division.
Daniele reiterated Ubisoft’s commitment to grassroots-level esports and promised that the company will seek to encourage more such events.
“We are working hard to build up and support many local events and grassroots tournaments together with our partners and local offices across the globe, and we will double down on our efforts in the future.”
The Pandemic Forced Ubisoft to be Agile
Deniele admitted that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great challenge for the Ubisoft team. Despite that, he thinks that it helped to harden the company’s team and taught it how to be more adaptive and effective.
“We learned a lot, and kept our esports programs running while implementing all necessary measures to ensure the safety of our fans, pro players, staff, and partners.”
The director explained that making esports events safer for the participants was one of the biggest adversities Ubisoft had to overcome. However, it also helped the company find innovative ways to make streamed competitions better and convey a similar level of excitement as live events.
Deniele added that he’s hoping Ubisoft will soon get back to hosting LAN championships with audiences in attendance, should the pandemic allow it. He’s excited to showcase what Ubisoft has learned in those troublesome last two years and take the esports fan experience to the next level.
