Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat believes that gamers want second screen and always connected games and that those would be the two most important features of next-gen consoles.
"We have to craft our experiences around the way people are now consuming entertainment," he said. "Look at TV. I'm pretty sure you watch TV with a second screen on, be it a tablet or a smartphone, so we know that consumers are ready to consume 90 minutes of entertainment in 45 minutes -- if you know what I mean."
Mallat was then asked about always-online games. "I would suspect that the audience is ready," he answered. "As soon as players don't have to worry [about connectivity], then they will only take into account the benefits that those services bring. And I agree, these services need to provide clear benefits. It's important to be able to provide direct connections between us and our consumers, whether that's extra content or online services, a lot of successful games have that."
Mallat also likes to keep the player immersed in the game even when he is not playing it. This can be achieved thanks to "companion games" on tablets, mobiles and other second screen devices.