Connectivity to other devices 'key to the success' of next-gen consoles, says Ubisoft managing director

Forthcoming consoles from Microsoft and Sony must interact with mobile devices and other internet-connected platforms, says Ubisoft's Xavier Poix, saying that connectivity to non-console hardware is key to the success of the next generation.

"Last generation was really impressive in terms of power and connection to online, but that was almost seven years ago," Ubisoft managing director Xavier Poix tells Polygon. Since then, the rise of mobile devices and motion-sensing and touchscreens have changed the way we interact with video games. "The challenge will be how they will succeed in creating a console will be linked to all that other stuff. Interconnectivity will be key to the success of these new consoles.

"If you want to make it big and appealing to everyone, this has to be taken very seriously."

Poix is managing director of Ubisoft's studios in Annecy, Montpellier and Paris, overseeing development of games in the Assassin's Creed, Rayman and Just Dance franchises.

"The way I see it, we have all these devices everywhere, and they're all potentially interconnected, so how do you benefit from that?" Poix asks. "How do players benefit from ideas that push our bounds?"

Ubisoft has explored that type of connectivity with PC and console game Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, which featured a companion application, Ghost Recon Network, that included a gun viewing feature called Gunsmith.

"On Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for instance, which was a first step, we took a core design feature of the game [and applied it to a mobile application]," Poix said. "It's something that is really interesting to do in the game of course, but it's also fun to do when you're at work or [away from a console].

"It's about finding a core feature really interesting and potentially giving it to another device that is more suitable," Poix says, that can be played "anytime, anywhere."