Tom Clancy's bestselling series Ghost Recon is releasing a new title called Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands. It is the 10th instalment in the series and the first title to feature an open world theme. The game's story follows that of an elite group of soldiers called "The Ghosts" who are deployed to Bolivia to eliminate the Santa Blanca Drug Cartel. The game is set to be released on the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.
To promote or accompany the release of the game, Ubisoft announced that they will be making a documentary based on the real life drug problems of Bolivia. This announcement may either be a deal breaker or deal maker for Ubisoft as this might be a gamble than can have a bigger effect on the gaming community.
As per gameindustry.biz, Ubisoft UK Marketing Director, Mark Slaughter said "with the vast number of titles on the market, the increasing competition for consumers' time and money with other entertainment forms such as Netflix, the rise of ad-blockers, and seemingly an increased resistance to blatant marketing, publishers have to think outside the box to push even the biggest releases".
According to EUROGAMER.net, Ubisoft hasn't mentioned any details about the viewing of the documentary, but that the company is aiming for the documentary to be a limited film release.
PC Gamer sheds some light about this documentary. The book "Marching Powder" will be the basis for the documentary, and that they will be using first-hand accounts of the situation on the region. As Ubisoft UK Marketing Director, Mark Slaughter also said "the documentary certainly deals with a very serious subject matter, so we have ensured that we've worked with a leading production team and figures with extensive knowledge of the regions featured in the documentary and key individuals who have lived in that world".
This kind of marketing signifies how hard promoting a game is nowadays, and teaches people that in order to become successful, one must think differently. And regardless if the gaming community or fans watch the documentary or not, it is important to appreciate the effort and hard work Ubisoft has made in developing this game. The documentary is set to be released on March 6, 2017 just a day before the release of the game.
