Ubisoft Between Canceled Games and Delayed Titles: Transition Difficulties

Ubisoft canceled three games without notice and once again delayed the release of the highly anticipated Skull and Bones game in development.
In statements released on Wednesday, the company said it “faces significant challenges as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and focus on long-form games that can be enjoyed by players around the world, across multiple platforms and business models.”

Ubisoft said it has been trying to adapt its “war horses” (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and The Division) to new trends and dynamics over the past four years. “However, the games at this investment stage have not been released yet, and our latest releases have not lived up to expectations.”
The company said its software sales this holiday season were “significantly and unexpectedly slower than expected”, with Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023 among the games that fell short of expectations.
The publisher has also revised down its net pre-sales forecast for the current fiscal year (2022-2023), which ends in March.

Ubisoft also said it wants to cut costs by around 200 million euros over the next two years “through targeted restructuring, the sale of some non-core assets…”, adding that “it will continue to look for talented people for its biggest games”. and live services.

In addition to Skull and Bones, in fiscal year 2023-24, Ubisoft said it plans to release Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and other premium games that have yet to be announced, including a major one. promising free games…” The publisher’s free games include The Division Heartland for PC and consoles, The Division Resurgence for mobile, and Assassin’s Creed: Codename Jade.

Ubisoft wants its business to be an online service first and foremost, and franchises like Assassin’s Creed have been transformed into a cross-platform online service offering an ever-growing selection of games, and getting there is hard, slow and expensive, requiring, so that you acquire many new skills. Plus, it’s risky.

Other publishers and developers are also considering such a transformation of their games in one form or another. We must also consider that it may not be attractive to the public to play a certain game that has been converted for live use. The only certain thing about all of this is the risk to the company taking on this transformation venture and whether the necessary economic effort is sustainable in terms of development resources.