Following what was reported as ‘surprisingly sluggish’ gross sales, Ubisoft has revealed the cancellation of three unannounced video games. As there was a wave of cancellations made final summer season, this brings the entire variety of scrapped Ubisoft initiatives to seven in simply six months. Not solely that, however Ubisoft has additionally delayed Cranium & Bones – for the sixth time – and apparently, the CEO of the agency has let workers know that the onus of recovering the corporate is on them.
It’s a worrying time for the legendary developer, whose share value continues to plummet days after the cancellations had been introduced. If insider sources are to be believed, then Ubisoft’s makes an attempt at sourcing an entire acquisition or a merger with one other firm in an try and shore up losses had been ‘laughed at’. It was a yr in the past that Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, acknowledged that the corporate could be open to an acquisition, however twelve months later, no person desires to select up the seemingly dwindling agency.
Is There Something Good In Retailer For Ubisoft?
Picture Credit score: Ubisoft
Just lately, Ubisoft broke down a couple of extra particulars about Murderer’s Creed Mirage, the subsequent injection of exploration and alternative in its open-world flagship franchise. In an interview, Stéphane Boudon, a Inventive Director at Ubisoft, defined that it’s a return to the franchise’s roots that builders are aiming for – a return to type of kinds. There can be no magical, legendary components in Mirage, however as a substitute, it has been created to seem as a ‘love letter’ to the first-ever Murderer’s Creed sport.
That’s excellent news for followers of the franchise, as whereas Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla have been thrilling, well-built video games, they’ve felt like a step away from what made Murderer’s Creed Murderer’s Creed.
Now, in a extra back-to-basics type of sport, Assassin’s Creed Mirage revisits the traditional stealth mechanics that made the franchise so well-liked. And, because it’s a a lot smaller world basically, Ubisoft has been in a position to make the ninth Century rendition of Baghdad far more dense, akin to Paris in 2014’s Murderer’s Creed Unity.
Sadly, that could be too little, too late for Ubisoft. With half a dozen cancelled initiatives within the bag and the necessity to recoup an enormous sum of money, the agency is floundering. Regardless of a current funding by Tencent, there’s nonetheless a necessity to chop prices, and which means delaying or cancelling video games, and slicing out any pointless baggage.
Cranium & Bones Received’t Set Sail But
Off the again of the cancellation announcement, Ubisoft revealed that Skull & Bones has been delayed but once more. This now marks the sixth time that the sport has been delayed, and a few followers are questioning whether or not it’s price scrapping the mission solely. There are excessive expectations that Cranium & Bones can be a money cow for Ubisoft, standing agency because the type of dwell service title that brings in a gradual stream of income for a developer, and that’s doubtless why Ubisoft is reluctant to let it go.
As a world group, we’ve been ready for Cranium & Bones for a number of years, and it now looks like a kind of video games that, in fact, gained’t ever see the sunshine of day. One factor is for positive – Ubisoft wants to drag itself up and launch some top-tier video games quickly, or additional downfalls may very well be in retailer for the agency. There’s a push proper now for Ubisoft to interrupt additional into free-to-play and mobile-based games, however will it’s sufficient to avoid wasting the corporate?
