The studio no longer has the right to make mistakes and has decided to cancel the riskiest projects, starting with online games.
The year 2023 starts badly for the parent company of Rayman and Assassin’s Creed. A few days ago, the studio addressed its community with very sad news. The past year was not crowned with success, and even the biggest licenses failed. Just Dance 2023 and Mario and Rabbids: Sparks of Hope acted as standard bearers for the studio, but gamers didn’t take the bait. Faced with this disappointment and an increasingly difficult economic situation, Ubisoft had to make radical decisions.
First of all, Skull and Bones, the piracy game announced 6 years ago has been postponed again. Never five postponements without six as they say at Ubi. More seriously, this new license with great ambitions which intends to become their new benchmark in terms of live service gaming must absolutely prove itself. There is no longer any room for error, and it is better to present the title in its best form than to perpetuate the reputation of unfinished or heavily downgraded games.
Unfortunately, this postponement is far from the only bad news revealed by Ubisoft. In order to guarantee a bright future for its flagship licenses, the studio was forced to cancel no less than three projects. These nipped in the bud games were supposedly kept secret, but that was without counting on Tom Hendersonrenowned insider and leaker.
Avoid risk taking at all costs
Clearly, Ubisoft and online games do not mix. In April 2022, we told you about Project Q, an arena battle game forced to be officially revealed after a massive leak. This title describes as a hybrid between Fortnite and Overwatch was to position the studio in the shooter market. After the failure of the battle royale Hyperscape who only lived 18 months, this direction was bold.
So, we heard you heard… 🤷
Introducing codename “Project Q”, a team battle arena letting players truly own the experience! The game is in early development and we will keep testing, so for now all you can do is register for upcoming tests: https://t.co/TMRKwiUzbJ pic.twitter.com/hZ40OkPdum
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) April 23, 2022
In the meantime, Roller Championsanother live action game halfway between Rocket League and roller derby has also suffered. This one is still not canceled, but the development of the seasons has already been put on hold to find a new, more effective recipe. After this skewer of failures, Ubisoft no longer wants to bear the brunt of online games and then cancels its famous Project Q.
No competitor to Overwatch for the studio which announced the news to the testers of the title on a dedicated Discord server according to information from Insider Gaming. The only future projects only concern strong licenses, namely Assassin’s Creed and the famous Skull and Bones. It only remains to find out if Ubisoft has made the winning bet, or if this slippery slope will never end.
