STACK July 2017 Issue 153

38 / 107

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again, the OrpheumTheatre in
downtown LA is my favourite
destination for an E3 event, period.
Built in 1926, a real sense of awe
and history spills from the grandiose
internal architecture and design;
in its heyday, regular performers
included the Marx Brothers, Ella
Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.
It’s also the spiritual home of
Ubisoft’s E3 press conferences
and where we’ve enjoyed some
of the French publisher’s biggest
announcements in various states of
jet lag over the years. In 2017, the
company decided to drop regular
presenter Aisha Tyler, opting instead
for the media briefing to be guided
by co-founder and Ubisoft CEOYves
Guillemot. From memory, he only
took to the stage twice. It’s what
every gamer tuning in wanted to
see – nothing but game after game;
some were expected and some
were completely out of the blue.
It was a varied
presentation, and a
triumphant one – the
strongest press conference
at E3 2017, in my opinion.
While Ubisoft generally have
a media room situated within its
extensive booth, where appointment
times are made weeks in advance
of E3, the majority of the games
behind-closed-doors were also
available on the booth floor for
everyone – possessing a great
degree of patience – to play.
The emphasis in the media room
was essentially funneled towards
two of Ubisoft’s biggest upcoming
games: Far Cry 5, leaked and then
officially confirmed in the weeks
leading up to E3, and the next
038 JULY 2017
visit GAMES FEATURE
UBISOFT
The King of the
Conference
Far Cry 5
Words Paul Jones