Ubisoft has begun branding games it develops internally as "Ubisoft Originals."
Speaking to Eurogamer, a Ubisoft spokesperson confirmed that the company will use the label on future in-house games, saying, "Moving forward the 'Ubisoft Original' mention is attached to all of Ubisoft's games created in-house by our talented developers."
The first game branded as a "Ubisoft Original" appeared last week: upcoming free-to-play Division spinoff Heartland. At the time, Andy wondered if Heartland would be a big battle royale game, of if the label was similar to the "EA Originals" stamp, which EA uses for indieish games like Unravel, Sea of Solitude, and It Takes Two.
Now we know that it simply means a Ubisoft-owned studio is making the game.
The strange thing about the Netflix-esque label is that Ubisoft develops nearly all of its games in-house. Small games like Brawlhalla developed by Blue Mammoth Games (which Ubisoft acquired in 2018) and massive franchises like Assassin's Creed would seemingly both be considered Ubisoft Originals. Ubisoft didn't comment on whether it's planning to ramp up publishing of external games, but it would make sense if Ubisoft is already seeking to make the distinction.
Maybe Ubisoft doesn't want to be left behind by Epic Games, which recently made publishing deals with GenDesign, Play Dead, and Remedy. We may get some answers at this year's Ubisoft E3 conference in June.
