For the fourth time, from August 15 - 19, the international games community will descend on Cologne to savour the fascinating world of computer and video games. Gamescom, the world's biggest trade show and event highlight in interactive entertainment, will this year be on a larger area with additional themes and even more service and games.

Today we will bring you the biggest French game developer and publisher a little bit closer :

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Entertainment is a French global video game publisher and developer which has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries. It is the third largest independent game publisher in Europe, and the third largest in the United States. Ubisoft Montreal has got more than 1.700 employees and is therewith the largest development studio of Ubisoft. Ubisoft has created its own film division called Ubisoft Motion Pictures which will create shows and films based on its games.

For Gamescom 2012 they confirmed these games:



We will have closer look at the potential e-sport games like ShootMania Storm, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online and Far Cry 3.


Ubisoft booth 2010

ShootMania Storm

Trackmania + Quake = ShootMania ?! Maybe something like that, but with Shootmania Storm, Ubisoft will extend there "Mania Planet" franchise. Just like its sister games TrackMania 2 and the as of yet unreleased QuestMania, it will feature 3 different environments, of which two have so far been revealed; a snow-based environment called Cryo, and another called Storm. Storm is set to be released first, with Cryo released approximately a year later.

Florent (the game's project leader) has stated there will be relatively few different weapons, the idea being to minimize game time spent not in gameplay. For example the game is using a rocket launcher-style weapon as the game's primary weapon. The game still uses the map editor introduced in "TrackMania". Character editing is restricted, with only a shield on the player's back customizable.

The game will be released this year and people who won a beta key or pre-ordered the game have the chance to play the game for a few weeks, but you can also play the game at Gamescom 2012. Ubisoft and Nadeo will host the "The Op3n ShootMania GamesCom" at the ESL booth from 16th to 19th August with a prize pool of up to 8000€. More information you can get here.


Build your own maps with the Map Editor

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online

Ghost Recon Online is a third-person, multiplayer action video game, scheduled for release on the PC and the brand new Wii U console. Ubisoft Singapore is still developing the recent Tom Clancy game. Nintendo announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) that Ubisoft would release the game on their new console, Wii U, but instead of the Wii U version, the PC game will be a free to play.

With a persistent character system, you will be able develop and evolve your Ghost as you level up in Ghost Recon Online and unlock new equipment and abilities as you rise through to ranks. You can engage in fierce and visceral 16 player online firefights (8v8) with your friends and enemies and test your skills in various games modes and maps. You can track your performance via the game’s persistent ladder rankings and player statistics. The two gameplay types which were available in the closed beta were onslaught and conquest.

You can enjoy the core game content for free, but you can decide if you want to further enhance the game experience by purchasing game items with either in-game points or real currency.

Play the Gamescom 2012 or sign up for the beta here


Screenshot from the game, looks at bit like Battlefield 3

Far Cry 3

On June 6, 2011, Ubisoft showcased the demo gameplay of Far Cry 3 in its E3 2011 conference. After 1 year of developing you can play the game at Gamescom 2012 and if you don't know the Far Cry series, read the little Preview below:

Far Cry 3 is a open world first-person shooter video game being developed by Ubisoft Montreal in conjunction with Ubisoft Massive, Ubisoft Reflections. It will be the sequel to 2008's Far Cry 2. Far Cry 3 takes place on a tropical island found somewhere at the intersection of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. The main goal of the game is to escape from the islands and their crazed inhabitants.

It is revealed that the player has the ability to shoot enemies behind objects in crouch mode without moving his head up but with free hands. The game is based on the typical RPG principal - You earn experience points and therewith you level and gear up your character. The player will also have the ability to perform "takedowns" by performing melee attacks from above or in crouch mode. Jason Vandenberghe said that the story mode map will be around ten times larger than its previous installments, indicating that it is still an open world sandbox game.

Far Cry 3 returns the series to a tropical island setting, similar to the first game and unlike the second game, which took place in an African savanna setting. You're playing Jason Brody, a tourist who has been stranded on an island chain in the grips of violent local conflict for years. The plot will deal with finding Jason's girlfriend and escaping from the island.

The game was originally set for release on September 4, 2012 in North America and September 6 in Europe, however it was delayed to November 29, 2012 for Europe and December 4 for North America due to the developers polishing the game.

Probably you can play a 10-15min demo at the Gamescom 2011, which you should not miss


Welcome to the Jungle !