Ubisoft have cited poor sales as part of the reason that they have decided to shelve a further three more unannounced projects and further delay the release of Skull & Bones. The cancellations are in addition to the four projects that were already cancelled back in July last year. (Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and two unannounced projects.)
Attributing this leaner focus on “major challenges” and an industry that it says is shifting towards “mega-brands and long-lasting titles,” Ubisoft says that its recent launches have not performed as well as expected.
The holiday season, which usually sees major business for Ubisoft, was a “surprisingly slower” period for the company, and as a result, it’ll be focusing more of its efforts on building its current brands and live service titles.
“We are clearly disappointed by our recent performance,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said. “Despite excellent ratings and players’ reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January. Just Dance 2023 underperformed as well.”
Also mentioned was that Skull & Bones, already delayed multiple times and due to release on 9 March, will now only be released “sometime” in Ubisoft’s next financial year. So any time between April 2023 and March 2024
So many of Ubisoft’s decisions are anti-consumer. I still remember them calling 90% of PC gamers pirates. Their horrible choices in DRM, anyone remember Tages (eugh) and then always online requirement being introduced to the early Assassin’s Creed games back when most single player games could be played offline.
They’ve always been at the forefront of piling on microtransactions into full price games. And the fact that people lose the DLC they paid for because servers are shutting down just goes to show how flawed their system is.
What’s carried them have been some fantastic and amazing game series but even those are running out of steam. It’s sequel after sequel with much the same formulaic open world traits. A lot of the talent that developed those classics have moved on to greener pastures given the toxicity of the environment.
It feels like we’re watching an E.A. 2.0 in some ways
Soldaires Informatique is calling on the employees of Ubisoft Paris to go on strike on Friday 27 January in the afternoon, from 2 to 6 pm.
Even when they’re pissed off, the French are so civilised and cultured in their requests. “Let’s get together for a little Friday afternoon soirée, shall we?” All power to them. Vive la revolution!
All power to them. Vive la revolution!