Ubisoft wants to use user-created music for Watch Dogs Legion and is partnering with Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s HitRecord to make it happen.
Mirroring a near-identical arrangement between Ubisoft and HitRecord for Beyond Good and Evil 2, the partnership allows user-created content to be uploaded and potentially remixed by others before being licensed for use in-game.
Differing from Beyond Good and Evil 2, Ubisoft is looking for some very specific content in terms of Watch Dogs Legion: 10 original songs that would work in genres like rock, hip-hop, electronica, pop, metal and punk. Ubisoft will pay users $2,000 USD per song.
While this might sound great to some composers, others in the video game industry are criticising Ubisoft’s collaboration with HitRecord.
“This sucks. Pay people for their labour,” John Wick Hex‘s Mike Bithell wrote. “Stop exploiting fans and hobbyists, while devaluing the work of those with the gall to actually expect consistent payment for work done. Do better Ubi, we’re counting on you.”
“I am still not a fan of what read as ‘spec work under a proprietary open non-exclusive license’ model, & prefer the ‘pay someone to browse SoundCloud to find cool music for which you then talk to the creator & pay them too,'” added Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail.
If you’d like to submit a song to HitRecord for potential use in Watch Dogs Legion, you can do so here.
Watch Dogs Legion heads to Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4 on 6 March.
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