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Scalar trailer: Ubisoft wants to completely change games with the cloud – but not in the way you think
As part of GDC 2022, Ubisoft announced a new technology for calculating games, which is presented in the trailer above. It is called Scalar and, thanks to cloud calculations, should open up completely new possibilities in games, according to Ubisoft.
However, this is not game streaming like you would expect from services like Google Stadia or Geforce Now knows. Instead, individual elements of classic engines such as the calculation of artificial intelligence, physics or animations are outsourced to high-performance servers.
Difference to Stadia & Co.: While the game itself in classic cloud gaming is ultimately calculated as a closed system on a (partly virtual) computer and sent to you as a video stream, just like when playing on your home PC, the calculation with Scalar should be more huge amounts of computing power
supported via cloud server.
So far, Ubisoft has not explained in more detail how exactly this works and what role your own hardware as well as Internet and network connections play. Unsurprisingly, however, the importance of the computing power of one’s own PC should decrease. The official press release states as follows:
Ubisoft Scalar unlocks the power and flexibility of cloud computing for Ubisoft’s game engines […],reduces the dependency on the player’s hardware and provides new possibilities in the development of games and the personal gaming experience.
New game series from Ubisoft is already in the works
The tight corset in which classic engines pack games should be a thing of the past with the decoupling of individual systems such as AI or physics with Scalar.
With Scalar, Ubisoft wants to enable completely new types of games at the same time, with the announcement putting a certain focus on the size of the game world and the number of players. Scalar allow Come together millions of times in a single, shared virtual environment
Work is already underway on a new game series that relies entirely on Scalar. It is created in the leading studio in Stockholm, but in principle Scalar should gradually be used in all Ubisoft development studios worldwide.
Details about the new game series were not announced during the press conference and we believe it will take a while for that to change. But we are happy to be taught better and stay tuned to the topic.
What do you think of Ubisoft’s announcement? Does this really mean a revolution for upcoming games or are you rather skeptical about the impact on the gaming industry and our future gaming experiences? Feel free to write it in the comments!
