As part of the Game Developers Conference 2022, Ubisoft announced new game development technology that the Assassin’s Creed giant says will allow the company’s teams to create “unlimited” worlds. Ubisoft Scalar is the new cloud-native technology, and it is already used by Ubisoft teams in Stockholm, Sweden and other offices around the world.
Ubisoft Scalar is not a game streaming service, but rather a new suite of under-the-hood tools that developers can use to take advantage of cloud computing.
“Ubisoft Scalar unleashes the power and flexibility of cloud computing for Ubisoft’s game engines – the software used to create games – reducing dependency on players’ hardware and providing new possibilities for game development. games and player experience,” Ubisoft said.
Ubisoft Stockholm is leading the development of a new IP with Scalar, but the company isn’t ready to release details about it, studio boss Patrick Bach said during a media session that GameSpot reported. attended. Whatever this new game is, it will show “the full potential of Scalar to deliver an experience on a scale never seen before.” Ubisoft teams in Malmö (Ubisoft Massive), Helsinki (Ubisoft Redlynx), Bucharest and Kyiv are also working on new projects with Scalar technology which will be announced later.
With Scalar, Ubisoft is trying to create a “development framework focused on designing the ideal game design and experience, rather than working around traditional production constraints.”
Scalar is a platform-independent tool that Ubisoft uses to try to create and power “the games of tomorrow”. These are just talks at this time, as Ubisoft hasn’t shown any footage or talked specifically about what Scalar-powered games will look like.
For developers, Scalar promises “unprecedented scalability, flexibility, and creative freedom.” It’s no surprise that Ubisoft announces it at GDC as the annual event is often a recruiting event, in addition to functioning as a forum for developers to come together and discuss their work.
Traditional game engines have interlocking features and functions, so when one element is updated, others may be affected. This in turn can create bottlenecks and other problems for developers. With Scalar appearing to overlay any engines Ubisoft might use, developers can independently work on individual elements of a game engine without affecting the others. Ubisoft says this will help with iteration, general speed and ease of development, and anything created using Scalar can be “relatively” easily shared with other workers, Ubisoft said.
“Built on a microservices architecture, Ubisoft Scalar places every component and system of traditional game engines independently in the cloud (AI, audio, physics…), moving from today’s closed single-processor systems to a distributed model through a unlimited potential. number of machines,” Ubisoft said. “Games using this technology can therefore harness virtually infinite computing power to push the boundaries on every aspect and run anything from vast virtual worlds to extremely deep simulations and environments that were previously unachievable.”
Scalar has an “on-demand” philosophy, Ubisoft said. It is able to “dynamically” start and stop specific services, depending on the needs of players and developers, so that only the necessary computing power is used at any given time. “This optimization extends to compute-intensive tasks that are cached and distributed globally, removing the need to recalculate what has already been computed,” Ubisoft said.
Additionally, Scalar is able to give developers the ability to add or update features in a live game, without interrupting ongoing game sessions. The big takeaway here is that no additional patches, downloads, or downtime would be required for players in this setup. This is potentially a big deal given the scale of game updates these days, but again, Ubisoft is just an idea at this point. We haven’t seen it in practice yet; still, it’s an exciting prospect all the same.
“This is a major moment in our careers as game developers. We feel the same inspiration and freedom as when we started using our personal computers as teenagers – that feeling that you can do anything by fully harnessing the power of the cloud, for the first time in gaming” , said Christian Holmqvist of Ubisoft Stockholm.
For gamers, Scalar could allow developers to create games with “unlimited” worlds. With a Scalar game, it could be possible for “millions” of players to come together in a “single, shared virtual environment” in what Ubisoft says could be “new types of games and massively social experiences.”
“And with cloud-accelerated systems, game worlds are also reaching a new level of persistence where player actions can have an immediate and lasting impact on their environment, opening doors for new emerging forms of gameplay,” said said Ubisoft.
Scalar was created by Ubisoft’s new Production Technology department, which has over 500 people working to create “the best tools and technologies” to help developers make better games.
A core technology, Ubisoft Scalar grew out of the recently created Production Technology department, a cross-functional group of over 500 technical experts whose mission is to develop the best tools and technologies that help Ubisoft game creators bring their visions to life.
“Ubisoft builds on 35 years of continuous investment in R&D and proprietary technologies, as technological independence is a key differentiator,” said Guillemette Picard, Vice President of Production Technology. “Ubisoft Scalar fits into this spirit, enhancing both our creativity and our unique co-development model with new, transparent ways to collaborate on a global scale. This marks a step forward and an exciting milestone for the gaming community.”