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Why is Ubisoft Making a Movie About Old People Playing Esports?

Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:50 PM
Jasmine Henry
Last Updated September 23, 2020 1:50 PM
  • Video game publisher and developer Ubisoft confirms that it is making a movie about seniors playing esports.
  • The film is being developed with the co-writers and co-directors of Amy Schumer’s 2018 comedy, I Feel Pretty.
  • It’s one of several TV and movie projects that Ubisoft is working on.

A new article by The Hollywood Reporter  reveals that Ubisoft is developing a movie about senior citizens in sports.

Ubisoft has teamed up with Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, the co-writers and co-directors of Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty, on the project.

The movie is based on a 2019 article in The Wall Street Journal  called “The Next Generation of Competitive Gamers Is … Over 60?” That article, by Laura Parker, is about Silver Snipers, a professional group of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive players all over the age of 60.

Ubisoft is Also Making a Movie About The Division

The film sounds like a brilliant watch but is an unusual one from Ubisoft, which has several other TV and movie projects about its own game series. In 2019, Ubisoft announced that it is making a movie about The Division for Netflix. Jake Gyllenhaal and Jessica Chastain will be part of the cast.

Ubisoft is also making a live-action series about Skull and Bones, the pirate video game that hasn’t been released. An RPG about Child of Light is being made too, though not much has been announced about it.

Can Ubisoft Grow its Esports Success?

Releasing a film about seniors in esports could help Ubisoft grow its playerbase into a demographic it doesn’t have much strength in. The only game Ubisoft really has an esports scene for is Rainbow Six: Siege. The average age of an esports fan is also 31 years old, says a Nielsen report .

Making a game that shows seniors playing a shooter game could get more people watching Ubisoft esports–and spending on microtransactions in games like Rainbow Six: Siege. It doesn’t look like an easy way to make money, but as esports spending makes millions of dollars for companies like Ubisoft, this could be huge.