Ubisoft: Retail Made It Difficult For Ghost Recon PC

Ubisoft has cited the "difficult" PC retail market as the reason why the Ghost Recon franchise has seen PC ports of the console releases rather than dedicated releases in the past. As reported by news site CVG, Ghost Recon Online's creative director Theo Sanders explained that new digital distribution methods now mean that the company can focus on bringing the series back to its former glory on PC. "We knew it was a platform we wanted to come back to. However, until recently, the retail market for PC made it difficult to invest in a big, dedicated product," he said. "The emergence of online business models has brought back the opportunity to produce something dedicated to PC fans, rather than just ported multiplatform content." Ghost Recon Online, announced in May, is due for release later this year on PC. Sanders said that the game "offers all the best qualities of the Ghost Recon franchise in a downloadable, dynamic, PC-based online game." Ubisoft will make money on the "free-to-play" game through sales of premium items, and the company is pledging continuous support with regular content updates, special in-game events and "customized content based on community feedback." A game also currently titled Ghost Recon Online will also see a Wii U version, slated to release next year.