Softer than expected, indeed.
Alongside last week's announcement regarding the postponement of Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft also shed some light on its latest launched title Star Wars Outlaws, revealing that the game's financial achievements failed to satisfy the expectations of the studio's executives.
In a leaked internal memo to staff, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot showcased his proficiency in "corporate speech" by describing the game's sales as "softer than expected" instead of providing an actual number. The gaming community also couldn't help but notice Guillemot's amusing reference to the game's critic scores as "ratings from players," prompting many to question whether it was a slip of the tongue, an admission that AAA game studios only care about critic reviews, or a blatant display of ignorance about who actually buys and plays video games (spoiler: it's not the critics).
Ubisoft
Recently, Insider Gaming provided a corporate-to-English translation of the CEO's comments, disclosing that Star Wars Outlaws has only sold around one million copies within the first month since its launch in late August. While the studio's expected sales figure remains a mystery, it's reasonable to assume that it was significantly higher, especially considering that three months after the release of Assassin's Creed Mirage, the latest installment in the series, it had sold over five million copies.
Since video games typically reach their peak profitability within the first month, it seems highly likely that Outlaws will ultimately be regarded as a financial failure, continuing Ubisoft's 2024 streak of disappointments, which began with January's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and its 300,000 initial sales and followed by the studio's "AAAA game" Skull and Bones and its 850,000 sales, the uncertainty surrounding the future of XDefiant, and calls from investors to replace the company's entire management, starting with its CEO.
Speaking of Ubisoft, IG's Tom Henderson has shed some light on the reasons why Ubisoft's upcoming Assassin's Creed game got postponed, revealing that besides the need to polish and refine the experience, the studio also had other reasons to delay Shadows. Learn more here.
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