Assassin’s Creed Shadows delayed again by Ubisoft
UbisoftVideo game giant Ubisoft has announced a further delay to the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.
The long-running series is one of the French publisher’s flagship series, with the recently released “Valhalla” reportedly grossing more than $1 billion at the box office.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, set in 16th-century Japan, was originally scheduled to be released in November last year, but was initially delayed to February 2025.
Announcing the new release date of March 20, executive producer Marc-Alexis Coté said it will take “a few more weeks” to ensure a smooth release for the game.
Players are complaining that Ubisoft’s 2024 major game Star Wars Desperados is suffering from bugs and glitches at launch.
The company’s boss told investors that sales of the sci-fi game were “lower than expected” and said “lessons learned” from the launch of Outlaws prompted Assassin’s Creed Shadows to be initially delayed.
In the update, Mr. Cotter thanked fans for their support and said the extra time would allow the development team to implement “valuable feedback” from gamers.
Ubisoft“Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” is considered an important game for Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest gaming companies with approximately 13,000 employees worldwide.
The company’s other 2024 games “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown” and the pirate-themed online game “Skull and Bones” also reportedly performed below the company’s expectations.
The company also ceased operations of online shooter XDefiant and closed three studios.
In a conference call to coincide with Assassin’s Creed’s delayed release, CEO Yves Guillemot told investors that Ubisoft is “taking decisive steps” to reinvent the company.
The company also hopes to “significantly reduce costs”, the conference heard.
‘Strong attraction’
BBC Newsbeat previously interviewed James Batchelor, the former editor-in-chief of Gamesindustry.biz, who said that the “Assassin’s Creed” series is Ubisoft’s “golden goose.”
He said pushing the game back from its original November release date meant Ubisoft missed out on the busy pre-Christmas sales period.
But he also said there will be stiff competition in February, a peak period for high-profile new game releases, with Monster Hunter Wilds, Oath and Civilization VII also set to launch.
Although Ubisoft is having a “tough year” in 2024, James told Newsbeat that colleagues who played the preview version of “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” were impressed by the game.
He also noted that the show’s feudal Japan setting is something fans have long requested from the series, which he expects will drive sales.
“Whether it’s selling at the level it was in November or whether it’s selling where they want it to be. I don’t know,” he said.
“But of all the products and different performances they’ve launched in the last year, this one has the strongest opportunity and the strongest traction.”
