Making "solid" games isn't enough when you have "gamers expecting extraordinary experiences," Ubisoft CEO says after Star Wars Outlaws
As Ubisoft works to turn things around after a few bad years, CEO Yves Guillemot reckons making good, "solid" games won't cut it.
On the heels of the Assassin's Creed Shadows delay which has made Ubisoft's 2024 noticeably lighter, Guillemot discussed plans for the future. Bear in mind, this past February Guillemot described Assassin's Creed Mirage as a turning point for the studio's output as it works to regularly put out good games again – in his words, "the beginning of our turnaround to consistently creating and delivering high-quality, long-lasting games."
Speaking on an investor conference call today, Guillemot reckoned that good just ain't good enough. "In today's challenging market and with gamers expecting extraordinary experiences, delivering solid quality is no longer enough," the CEO said. "We must strive for excellence in all aspects of our work. This will enable the biggest entry in the [Assassin's Creed] franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles."
This stance – which warrants the immediate counterpoint that, perhaps, this might only not be enough for AAA projects that guzzle money like a Humvee guzzles gas – follows positive but not ravenous reception for Star Wars Outlaws, which Ubisoft clocks at a Metacritic score of 76 and average store user score of 3.9/5. Sales aren't exactly great, so Ubisoft's open-world Star Wars game is now coming to Steam in November with its first DLC in tow, and the devs promise "multiple" free updates to come afterward. Assassin's Creed Shadows was also specifically delayed based on "learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release" regarding polish.
Our Star Wars Outlaws review praises its world-building and combat but, like many others, docks points for mission variety and bad stealth sections.
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