Ubisoft is currently facing significant challenges, with its stock at a ten-year low, the company initiating an internal investigation to address its ongoing issues, and the announcement of a three-month delay for its highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed game, Shadows.
Originally scheduled for release in 2024, the game has now been pushed to February 14, 2025.
In a rare moment of transparency, Ubisoft openly admitted the reasons behind the delay, pointing to lessons learned from the release of Star Wars Outlaws, which faced a lukewarm reception:
While [Assassin’s Creed Shadows] is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title.”
Star Wars Outlaws underperformed, both critically and commercially, landing in the lower tier of Ubisoft’s major releases over the past 10-15 years.
Expectations were high for the open-world Star Wars game, but it struggled due to technical issues and criticism regarding its heavy focus on stealth mechanics.
In response, Ubisoft’s development team at Massive has been working on patches, not only to fix bugs but also to revamp certain stealth sections to be more accessible and improve combat mechanics.
In a surprising move, Ubisoft also addressed online criticisms that its games had become too “woke” or driven by agendas.
This acknowledgment came amidst a broader conversation about the company’s direction:
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…that everyone can enjoy.”
This statement followed Ubisoft’s apology to its Japanese audience over promotional content for Shadows, which sparked controversy, particularly around the inclusion of Yasuke, a legendary Black samurai, as one of the two main protagonists.
Some detractors debated Yasuke’s historical status as a samurai, questioning whether he should be featured in the game at all.
Additionally, Ubisoft faced similar backlash over the female lead, Kay Vess, in Star Wars Outlaws, with some online critics focusing on her appearance rather than any issues of historical accuracy, accusing the company of pandering to “woke” or DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) ideals. Ubisoft’s decision to engage with this narrative, even subtly, was unexpected.
Despite some speculation that the Shadows delay might be used to reduce Yasuke’s role due to this controversy, such a change is unlikely.
The game is already “feature complete,” and a three-month delay would only allow for polishing, not a drastic overhaul of its core storyline.
Ubisoft is undoubtedly in a precarious position, facing pressure from both internal issues and external criticism.
Whether the company can recover from recent setbacks and ensure that Shadows is a successful launch remains uncertain, but it’s clear that all hands are on deck as they work to regain momentum.
