Ubisoft soft-launched The Player Council on PC on August 26. The platform connects selected community members with development teams across projects ranging from early prototypes to updates for already released games.
Registration is free but requires an NDA. Members can then apply for individual projects, with developers deciding who is accepted into each test.
Some of these games do not officially exist yet
Codename Split Point and Codename Rook are the clearest examples. Ubisoft is not presenting either one as a guaranteed future release.
Split Point is testing a turn-based one-versus-one tactical multiplayer concept. Its team wants players to evaluate the basic loop and help identify what would be required to potentially bring it to market. Rook is a single-player strategy concept where planning and adaptable decision-making are still being shaped.
For Ubisoft, the value is getting outside reactions before a full production has been built around those assumptions. The cost is obvious as well: very early material has to be shown outside the development organization, which helps explain the NDA and controlled admission process.
It also creates a permanent channel for live games
The system is not restricted to prototypes. Riders Republic will use the Council for upcoming content, while the team behind 2017 multiplayer shooter Atomega is preparing its first new updates in nine years.
Ubisoft says Atomega's developers will test ideas, collect suggestions and revise future content from that feedback. Prototype access is free, while testing live content requires ownership of the relevant game.
Trust is built into the access system
Participants start in the Member Access Tier. Continued play, constructive feedback and collaboration can unlock Insider and eventually Shaper status.
Those tiers can provide access to more sensitive projects and earlier material. Instead of recruiting an entirely new audience for every test, Ubisoft can gradually build a pool of participants whose track record determines what they are allowed to see.
Developers are also expected to discuss some of their decision-making with members as they evaluate feedback and iterate on projects.
More experiments are already scheduled
Codename Decagon, an early cooperative action prototype combining physics with creative destruction, will join the platform later this fall. Codename Harlequin, currently a cooperative open-world survival shooter concept, is coming during the same period.
Ubisoft says additional projects will range from smaller experiments to major franchises. The platform itself is powered by Ubisoft Connect and Games2Gether.
The Player Council does not hand production decisions to the audience. Ubisoft still controls admission, interpretation of feedback and whether a concept moves forward. What changes is the point at which selected players are invited into that process.
