Ubisoft’s solution for a lousy year: more Assassin’s Creed
Few major games publishers have stepped in it as much as Ubisoft has over the last few years. Following a series of scandals, the company has struggled to regain its financial footing in the wake of multiple canceled projects, controversial AI and NFT experiments, and underperforming critical hits like Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope.
In an earnings report for the end of its 2023 fiscal year, Ubisoft has laid out its plans to find and use the hidden blade of success: more Assassin’s Creed.
Ubisoft’s rationale for this is based on some frankly arresting data. Despite not releasing a new game since 2020’s Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Ubisoft reports that the latest entry is still a massive draw. According to the publisher, the last fiscal year saw a record high for active users for an Assassin’s Creed game, bringing in more players and more money per player than both Assassin’s Creed Origins and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in their lifetime to date.
In a breakdown of the report and subsequent earnings call from IGN, Ubisoft looks like it’s going to bet big on Assassin’s Creed by restructuring to focus on the franchise. The next major entry, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, is scheduled for release this year, alongside a number of spin-off projects in the works.
That said, the year-end report does also note that there are other big things in the hopper for Ubisoft, including the next installment in The Division online shooter franchise, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and “another large game.” My money’s on that last one.
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