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Raymond: "It's time to give our teenage medium a kick in the balls"

MD of Ubisoft Toronto says industry has responsibility to grow up and address issues

Jade Raymond, the managing director of Ubisoft Toronto, has confessed she wants to see a shake up of subject matter for triple-A titles. And she's not alone.

"More and more people come to me at Ubisoft and say, 'I love games. I came into this industry with so many ideas. But I can't continue to make shooters over and over again,'" Raymond told Eurogamer.

"I have that meeting a lot these days. Yeah, it's time to give our teenage medium a kick in the balls."

She admitted that as a parent she's probably not the target market for games anymore, but believes that at the moment the industry is underestimating its audience, and that they want more than explosions.

"I don't know when we decided as an industry that in order to sell 5 million copies of a game you have to make a Michael Bay film"

"It's time for our industry to grow up," she said.

"Why is it that so many topics that are dealt with in other media are off limits or taboo in video games? Why can't we deal with the things that matter? I can think of so many examples of topics that could be interesting, issues that could be addressed in games or that could be integrated into existing big IP if we don't want to make them the centre of the experience."

"It's our responsibility; doubly so for people like me who can make a difference, or push for something getting funded."

She suggested topics like homelessness and sexism could easily be integrated into popular franchises like Call Of Duty, even if it wasn't the main subject matter.

"I don't know when we decided as an industry that in order to sell five million copies of a game you have to make a Michael Bay film. There are other options."

Ubisoft Toronto's first project is a Splinter Cell title.

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Rachel Weber

Senior Editor

Rachel Weber has been with GamesIndustry since 2011 and specialises in news-writing and investigative journalism. She has more than five years of consumer experience, having previously worked for Future Publishing in the UK.

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