"Three new IPs every three years," says Jay Cohen.

It has been known for some time now that Ubisoft are planning to become an even better third party publisher, and are going head-to-head with the likes of EA for the top spot.

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft's vice president of publishing Jay Cohen described new IPs as the cornerstone for Ubisoft's strategy, and will help them to gain a good foothold in the market.

As Cohen observed, Ubisoft's intellectual property portfolio currently includes Rayman and Red Steel, plus forthcoming title Assassin's Creed. "So every year, you're going to be seeing something that's going to be brought out by Ubisoft. If we can keep doing that, they're sustainable, and they're ours. We can take them with us no matter where we go."

Cohen was also quick to obeserve the problems over companies relying on licensed properties: "For example, look at SEGA 2K Sports," he offered. "They had the NFL license, and now they don't. Boy, they're kind of screwed... That's a big hole in somebody's business plan. All because the license ran out or the licensor took it back.

"You can't take Rayman away from me, or Red Steel, Assassin's away from us. And we think that's what it's going to take to continue to succeed," Cohen concluded.