Ubisoft Solves a Mystery That's Bugged Mankind Since the Beginning of Time

Finally

by Sammy Barker Thu 14th Jul 2016

It was alluded to in Homer's Odyssey and it was brought up in the Bible, but now Ubisoft has attempted to solve a mystery that has cursed mankind since the beginning of time: just how do you pronounce the company's name? It's not You-Bee-Eye-Soft that's for sure. Muppets!

[source youtube.com]

As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.

1
darkswabber
Thu 14th Jul 2016

So if you're france or Canadian it's U-bee-soft and for everyone else it's YOU-bee-soft. And for a small group of people it's YOU-bee-EYE-soft?

2
FullbringIchigo
Thu 14th Jul 2016

i always said ew-be-soft myself

3
get2sammyb
Thu 14th Jul 2016

It's short for Ubiquitous Software, so it was always (and always will be) YOU-bee-soft for me.

4
Shellcore
Thu 14th Jul 2016

Can they explain about how they define "iconic" next?

5
get2sammyb
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@Shellcore I checked my dictionary, and this is the definition of iconic:

6
Shellcore
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@get2sammyb Thanks - Next mystery.

7
Victor_Meldrew
Thu 14th Jul 2016

Bite-me

8
sinalefa
Thu 14th Jul 2016

I thought the mystery was how greed moves mankind. Ubisoft knows a thing or two about it

9
Kidfried
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@get2sammyb Not so fast right there, cowboy! In their French publications they state that it stems from the French word for Ubiquituous, which is Ubiquité.
I think they conciously chose a company name that could refer to a word in English or French. It would also make sense with regards to the meaning of the word and the sentiment of the video.

10
Kidfried
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@sinalefa I really don't understand all the critique towards Ubisoft. It is easily the most sympathetic big publisher around. It is very easy to point out the number of mistakes they've made, but I'd say the mistakes they made are relatively minor, and there is a whole lot of things they do so much better than other companies.

They took a break for the Assassin's Creed series is one such a great move. Activision would never do this with Call of Duty, because there is money to be made, but Ubisoft dares to take that step back to preserve the series.
Ubisoft is one of the only big companies that keeps pushing new IP's. Steep, Grow Home, Child of Light, For Honor, The Division, The Crew, Valiant Heart and Watch Dogs in just the last two years.
They're providing a lot of content for your money. Take for instance the South Park pre-order, Origins levels in Rayman Legends, their games have no paywalls and content locked behind microtransactions.
They have released some broken on launch games, but they always fix them and provide a major patching support. They're certainly doing a better job at it than companies like Bethesda. Instead of removing the fog they actually fix their games. (And to be fair these are only a handful of unsuccesful launches in total. Not a large amount.)

11
BAMozzy
Thu 14th Jul 2016

I must admit I am not a fan of Ubisoft's games anymore. I know they have taken a break from AC but unlike Activision's CoD franchise, AC was developed by the same team every year where as CoD is on a 3yr cycle. If Assassins Creed was to go back to a yearly cycle, I think it would benefit by having different Studio's making it.
Ubisoft may have a few big franchises but also release a lot of Budget titles. There open world games look great (at E3) but often lack the impact and game-play to sustain playability. Whilst this maybe down to taste - I know some that really enjoy their content, I personally struggle to be 'excited' by their games.
I know some are 'buggy' messes and can be fixed, others (like the Division) seem to be just Buggy messes with no possible fix.
I know Ubisoft, like other publishers, are not perfect and have their strengths/weaknesses but they are not necessary better than another company - although their E3 presentations are fun - I just have no/limited interest in their gaming line-up

12
Dodoo
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@Kidfried Agreed, well said.

I think it's just "cool" to hate on these companies sometimes, when the reality is they do a lot of things right.

Put it this way, I'd much rather they were around than not and I'm sure most people would agree if they answered honestly.

If you're reading this Ubisoft, can we have a Child of Light sequel please!?

13
sinalefa
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@Kidfried

I am basically joking but I still feel they only took a break from AC because of the backlash for releasing the AC Unity mess. That still did not prevent them from releasing the 3 sidescrolling games.

With this said, I still have more Ubisoft games than Activision or EA.

14
RenanKJ
Thu 14th Jul 2016

Always pronounced it oo-bee-soft, that's how it sounds when you say the letters in portuguese, hehe. But you-bee-soft seems easier to native english speakers.

15
AFCC
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@RenanKJ I'm portuguese and I always said YOU-be-soft cause that's what I imagined it would be in english

16
RenanKJ
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@AFCC Hahah, I'm actually brazilian, maybe it's some sort of cultural difference hehe. It's common here to say words from other languages closer to how it would sound in portuguese heheh. I think you guys usually say the word correctly, right?

17
Panic_Attache
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@BAMozzy I'd always thought Assassin's Creed also alternated between different main programming teams?
Was a big fan of their games but unfortunately they took out the bits I enjoyed the most, puzzles & tombs, upgrades that added a slight metroidvania aspect and added too many gimmicks, the social challenges & outfits galore for example. I found the missions difficult to follow and gave up on syndicate if I'm honest. They threw kitchen sink at that game and it was all a bit overwhelming!
Bring back the pirate ship I say.

18
Kidfried
Thu 14th Jul 2016

@stevejcrow That's right, but Ubisoft structures are pretty difficult to understand. They have different teams within the different studios itself. Montreal is easily 10 times the size of Naughty Dog, so they can easily release two or three games a year. Then there's Quebec who often alternate with Montreal (the former made Syndicate while the latter made Syndicate).

@sinalefa I knew you were kind of joking and my comment wasn't purely directed at you or anythinjg, ust used it as a jumping on point to participate in a sort of ongoing discussion on Ubisoft in general. All good vibes, though!