The launch of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” has been delayed to Feb. 14, 2025 from its currently planned Nov. 15 release.
Game publisher Ubisoft announced the news Wednesday, citing a weak performance for new title “Star Wars Outlaws” and lower than expected profit in the current quarter as the deciding factors in pushing the next installment in the “Assassin’s Creed” franchise.
Per Ubisoft, “While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title. This will enable the biggest entry in the 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.”
Additionally, Ubisoft says “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” will be available on Steam on launch day, a break from the company’s current strategy, and that it will break from Ubisoft’s typical Season Pass model, as “all players will be able to enjoy the game at the same time on February 14 and those who preorder the game will be granted the first expansion for free.”
Following the “softer than expected” sales for “Star Wars Outlaws” after its Aug. 30 release, Ubisoft says its development teams are “currently fully mobilized to swiftly implement a series of updates to polish and improve the player experience in order to engage a large audience during the holiday season to position ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ as a strong long-term performer.” Ubisoft says “Outlaws” will launch on Steam Nov. 21.
Along with the “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” and “Star Wars Outlaws” news, Ubisoft revealed Wednesday new financial guidance for the fiscal year, including lowering net bookings for the full year to approximately €1.95 billion, and down to €350-370 million in net bookings for the second quarter.
Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said Wednesday an executive committee supervised by the board of directors is “launching a review aimed at further improving our execution, notably in this player-centric approach, and accelerating our strategic path towards a higher performing model to the benefit of our stakeholders and shareholders.”
“Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands,” Guillemot said in a statement Wednesday. “Although the tangible benefits of the Company’s transformation are taking longer than anticipated to materialize, we keep on our strategy, focusing on two key verticals – Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences – with the objective to drive growth, recurrence and robust free cash flow generation in our business. In the light of recent challenges, we acknowledge the need for greater efficiency while delighting players. As a result, beyond the first important short-term actions undertaken, the Executive Committee, under the supervision of the Board of Directors, is launching a review aimed at further improving our execution, notably in this player-centric approach, and accelerating our strategic path towards a higher performing model to the benefit of our stakeholders and shareholders. Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately. I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
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