New Video Shows How Ubisoft Downgrades In Quality From E3 Game Footage To Actual Game Footage

Many gamers have noted that Ubisoft is guilty of making in-game footage during E3 look magnificently finished with realistic sound design, reflections and more, but hacking away all of that for release. And one fan released this video to show just how extreme the difference was between footage shown at E3 and footage from when the game actually releases.

 

The video appeared on YouTube on June 4 from YouTuber user CrowbCat. The video has over 700,000 views already and CrowbCat has almost 60,000 subscribers to their channel.

CrowbCat makes sure to note in the description,

 

Comparison between E3 demos and retail version of recent Ubisoft games. I encourage you to not only focus on textures or lighting, but also on animation, level design, assets, physics, and sound. Recorded in 1080p at max settings on PC with a controller.

It’s very apparent from watching the video that there are extreme differences between what is show at E3 during the gameplay demo and what eventually comes out during release. Many of the things I immediately noticed was the sound, textures and the NPC’s in the area. In the E3 demos, there were a ton more realistic sounds and the textures and lighting felt more realistic and polished, plus there were usually a lot more NPC’s wandering around. But in the actual releases of the games, many of these things were either very altered or taken out completely. For example, when I played The Division, I was expecting to see what I had seen in E3 demos where you hear gunshots in the distance, screaming, random people wandering around, but the actual gameplay had none of that. Matter-of-fact, I was pretty blown away by the fact that I felt very alone in The Division and it didn’t feel like I thought it would at all. So in a way, the surfacing of this video doesn’t surprise me at all. 

I understand that there comes a time when things must be cut in order to make sure the game releases on time. But it really does seem like Ubisoft beefs up the game for the gameplay demo and then takes out the things that take up too much time to fix for when the game actually releases. It's like putting on a show to create hype around the game. When I first saw this video, my first reaction was this has to be an edited video, but then I remembered my experience with The Division and I wasn't so sure anymore. I mean, if you really wanted to, you could look up gameplay demos from E3 and then look up gameplay videos on YouTube after the game was released. 

What are your thoughts on Ubisoft’s games from E3 demos to the actual releases? Did you experience a difference? Let us know in the comments below.