Ubisoft has never been shy about it’s shovel-ware games. Some years ago, a designer on the Prince of Persia reboot said “they pay the bills so we can make games like Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia.” It’s difficult to fault Ubisoft for that. It’s true of almost every major publisher out there. The only one’s that really manage to avoid the shovel-ware titles are those akin to Valve; privately owned, and funded.
Games like the eighteenth Rayman: Rabbids game are easy to turn a blind eye to when Ubi releases consistently good major titles and franchises. This title is a little much, even for them. We Dare is a game built apparently as an entry level swinger’s party.
Adult games have always been around. From Golgo 13 on the good old Nintendo to the numerous thinly veiled porn games that fleshed out (if you’ll excuse the pun) the back pages of mid to late ninties PC game mags.
Today, adult games occupy a small niche. Most developers of adult titles don’t make generic games; they specialize in adult games, much in the way that Playboy doesn’t produce straightforward dramas. With that perspective in mind, the announcement of We Dare from Ubisoft comes as quite the shock.
Is it anything to balk at? Surely, no. To tread out the film analogy even further, even major motion picture studios have produced and released films that are more about sex and nudity than character and story (see any of the direct-to-video National Lampoon’s films of the past 6 years).
Ubisoft wants to fill the coffers for their major titles. In doing so, they are attempting to branch out and explore newer revenue options. If adult games like We Dare are among those, it should not be seen as a new company-wide direction.
Now, why the PS3 version of the We Dare has a more puritanical 2 player limit, is a question none of us are qualified to answer.
