Ubisoft as a video games publisher isn’t doing too hot in recent times. The games the company recently released aren’t doing great numbers wise, and there are probably a fair number of gamers out there still waiting for Skull & Bones to finally be released. But as it turns out, the game is suffering yet another delay, the sixth one so far.
IGN reports that in addition to delaying Skull & Bones yet again, the publisher has also cancelled three unannounced games. The company attributes all these to it “facing major challenges as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and long-lasting titles than [sic] can reach players across the globe, across platforms and business models”.
Despite the cancellation of three unannounced games, Ubisoft told investors during a call that it still had “other premium unannounced games, including a large one.” These are to be announced during the course of the next fiscal year, which starts in April. Alongside these games are big names like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as well as Assassin’s Creed: Mirage, which will likely remain the publisher’s main focus for awhile as it focuses on its “biggest brands”.
As for Skull & Bones, the company says that it is targeting “early 2023-24” for its new release window. According to VGC, the publisher is referring to its fiscal calendar. The outlet’s Andy Robinson also claims that Ubisoft has a beta phase for the game that will be launching soon, and that the publisher thinks that “players will be positively surprised by its evolution”.
Skull and Bones has also been delayed *again*. Ubisoft is saying a beta phase will launch soon, with the full release in “early 2023-24”
“We believe players will be positively surprised by its evolution.”
— Andy Robinson (@Andy_VGC) January 11, 2023
Andy Robinson adds that the biggest brands for Ubisoft at the moment are Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and The Division, the last three being Tom Clancy titles. Though of the three, the publisher has done Ghost Recon especially dirty. Breakpoint, the last entry of the series, not only got looter shooter RPG mechanics from The Division forced in, it also got turned into the test bed of the disastrous Quartz NFT endeavour.
(Source: IGN, VGC, Andy Robinson / Twitter)
