Ubisoft believes that the digital market is a more viable location for creative content.

Chatting with MCV, digital publishing manager Thomas Paincon indicated that retail products are more likely to fail if they're not built upon popular franchises.

“There is less risk releasing a new game digitally,” he said. “Look at From Dust, we sold half a million units on XBLA and PSN. Why? Because the prices were lower, but also because it was a new experience and people using digital platforms are more willing to test a new IP.”

Paincon also explained that its best to release digital products earlier in the year and during the summer, when there is a lull at retail.

“It’s harder to compete for gamers’ money when there are lots of new triple-A games out,” he explained.

We can't argue against the sentiment of Paincon's comments, but it sets a worrying trend if only big budget franchises can compete at retail. There are some anomalies, both Heavy Rain and Catherine performed well in recent years, but we feel like big publishers such as Ubisoft should be doing more to push original content at retail. It's great that digital platforms have become a real venue for experimental projects, but the price expectations of those platforms mean new ideas can only go so far. And we want to see more.