Ubisoft is experiencing one of its worst times in recent memory, with the company now delaying the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows following a slew of controversy surrounding artistic designs, merchandise, and the abrupt withdrawal of the Tokyo Games Show.
Ubisoft has been facing an uphill battle with its upcoming release of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and the mountainous journey to launch began when the company unveiled the setting and the main protagonists. Fans accused Ubisoft of mischaracterizing Japanese culture with their design choices while simultaneously pointing to Ubisoft officials saying Shadows was loosely based on history. Additionally, Ubisoft released a trailer that showcased choppy animations, adding only more fuel to the fire.
In that trailer video, the comment section was taken over by bot accounts that published positive comments that gained a suspicious number of likes. Those comments have since been removed, and Ubisoft has been accused of purchasing bot accounts to attempt to sway the public's perception of Shadows. Moreover, the company has been accused of misrepresenting Japanese culture with its Shadows merchandise by including what some are claiming to be a depiction of the One-Legged Torri Gate in one of its figurines. For those who don't know, the One-Legged Torri Gate is a shrine dedicated to the tragic event of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb.
Following this string of struggles, Ubisoft abruptly pulled out of the Tokyo Games Show just two days before it was scheduled to take place. Now, the company has issued a new update regarding the launch date of Assassin's Creed Shadows. Ubisoft has officially postponed the launch of the new game, citing the need for more time to "polish and refine the experience" in the wake of the recent criticism of the "two unique protagonists". Ubisoft said all pre-orders will be refunded, and those who pre-ordered will get the first expansion for free.
The woes don't stop there as Insider Gaming released an exclusive report revealing an internal memo by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. The memo was sent to staff before Ubisoft's scheduled earnings call and revealed some key details about Guillemot's view on the company's recently released Star Wars Outlaws, and Assassin's Creed Shadows.
According to the CEO, Star Wars Outlwas, which launched with a very underwhelming response from fans, has been reflected in Ubisoft's sales as Guillemot said, "Star Wars Outlaws' initial sales proved softer than expected, despite solid ratings from players that recognized the game's faithful transcription of the original trilogy's essence and richness." Guillemot went on to reference scores from gaming journalists publications, such as "76 on Metacritic, 3.85/5 on PS store, ~4/5 on Xbox and 4.4/5 on Epic."
Guillemot referencing critic scores of the game and not user scores reveals a detail about how Ubisoft views its titles, or at least grades them, because right below that 76 Metacritic rating based on 87 critic reviews is a score of 5.4 based on 2,248 user ratings. Guillemot seems to be looking at the wrong metric on his own source. Games should be made for gamers, not for critics.
As for Assassin's Creed Shadows, the internal memo revealed the launch date will be February 14, 2025, and that in light of the recent negative feedback from players Guillemot reminded everyone Ubisoft is an "entertainment company" and that its "objective is not to endorse any specific agenda".
Ultimately, Guillemot's internal memo, the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows, and the hope that Star Wars Outlaws will be fixed with future updates and a Black Friday sale indicate that Ubisoft is in some trouble - especially considering the company's stock price and a recent internal investigation launched by its board of directors.