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During an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Ubisoft's North American President, Laurent Detoc, revealed that his company has no plans of following competitors Electronic Arts and Activision by growing through acquisitions. "I don't think we will focus on acquisitions unless it makes sense for us," he explained. "We're not a reactive company, we're builders."
One of the ways he does expect the company to grow, however, is through casual games. Currently, casual games make up almost 25 percent of Ubisoft's total sales. "People want games that are more accessible and less intimidating," Detoc said. "We have been exploring a lot in that space and we think we will have an advantage as that group gets bigger."
But while these games both sell well and are cheap to produce, Detoc says that all is not as rosy as it seems. "The margins on these games are good when you look at development, but it takes a lot of marketing dollars," he explained. "It's like packaged goods. You have to think about marketing, retail space, branding."
It's good to know that Ubisoft isn't planning on joining the acquisition game, but then again, after EA and Activision are done, there probably won't be much left to acquire.