Ubisoft Says Too Many Titles in Development Led to Recent Game Delays, Cancellations

gadgets.ndtv.com:

Ubisoft has finally confirmed the reason behind its several game delays and cancellations over the past couple of years. During its Q3 2022–23 investors call held early Friday, CEO Yves Guillemot claimed that the measure was necessary because the company was producing too many titles at the same time. Just last month, Ubisoft cancelled three unannounced projects to combat revenue losses and strengthen its long-term growth. Guillemot also assured investors that Ubisoft will attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this summer, should there be one this year. “If E3 happens, we will be there and we will have a lot of things to show,” he said (via VGC).

“We cancelled a few games because we needed to make space for other games that are in development in the company, and that's really helping all the other games that are progressing well,” Guillemot said in the investors call (via NME). “Now, we feel we have the right number of games, knowing that we will launch a lot of games in financial year '24 that will also give space for the other games that are on the way in the company.” Ubisoft previously delayed its naval combat title Skull & Bones for the sixth time, in hopes of gathering feedback from ongoing technical tests and ensuring a polished experience at launch. Earlier set for a March 9 release, the game will now launch within the company's next fiscal year, which lies between April 2023 to March 2024.

Guillemot also touched upon how the cancellations benefit post-launch content for key game launches in the future. Given the development teams were thinly spread across multiple projects, axing some of the minor/ poorly progressing ones helps save them time and resources. Those developers can then be moved to help with