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Ubisoft delay Skull and Bones yet again, together with a mystery “large game"Is it Star Wars Outlaws?
Is it Star Wars Outlaws?
Image credit:Ubisoft
Image credit:Ubisoft
The troubled naval combat sim isn’t the only Ubisoft project experiencing misadventures. As revealed in their latest earnings report, the publisher have also pushed back a mysterious “large game”, originally due to launch before the end of their current fiscal year, to the next fiscal year, which means at some point after 31st March 2024. Speculation runs rife that the anonymous blockbuster is Ubisoft Massive’sStar Wars Outlaws.
The latter rumour comes fromEthan Gach over at Kotaku, drawing on reporting earlier in the year. Whatever the other “large game” is, Ubisoft are framing this second delay as a show of strength, reflecting financial “overperformance in Q2 and the current positive momentum of Ubisoft’s brands”, according to a statement. As such, Ubisoft feel they can pull off their “announced guidance of strong top line growth and non-[International Financial Reporting Standards] operating income of approximately €400 million, without releasing the other large game [they] had initially planned to launch during the last quarter of the current fiscal year.” Launching this unspecified game in financial year 2024-2025 will allow Ubisoft “to maximize its value creation”.
In other words, they say they’re making fat stacks right now and are spacing their investments out a bit so they can make even fatter stacks next year. Who even needs that silly Star Wars game or whatever it is, when you’ve got Assassin’s Creed: Mirage achieving a “solid launch with week 1 number of players in line withAssassin’s Creed OriginsandAssassin’s Creed Odyssey”, to say nothing ofThe Crew Motorfestaccomplishing “franchise record unit sell through, consumer spending and season pass adoption rate on the opening week”? (The full written report isover here.)
As for Skull and Bones, words fail me. I do want it to be good, as somebody who savoured the salty boat-smashing interludes of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag (which isrumoured to be getting the remake treatment), but the poor thing has been in development since 2013. Fingers crossed this is the final delay.
Thanks toEurogamerfor passing this on.
