French game developer Ubisoft, well-known for creating popular games such as Assassin’s Creed and Star Wars, has recently announced another delay in the release of its latest game, “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows.” The game was initially scheduled for release on February 15, but it has now been postponed to March 20. This delay has sparked significant discontent among the gaming community.
Ubisoft has been facing financial challenges since 2023 due to lower-than-expected sales of several games, causing its stock price to hit a 10-year low in September last year. To revive its struggling business, Ubisoft released a trailer for its upcoming game, “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows,” in May last year, with the intention of launching it on February 15 this year.
However, even before its release, “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” has been embroiled in controversies. These include controversies surrounding the choice of game characters, allegations of distorting history, and the alleged unauthorized use of designs from the Japanese performance group, Kanto Iron Punks. In September last year, Ubisoft announced the first delay in the game’s release, and now it has faced another delay until March 20. Ubisoft claims that this delay is in response to player feedback and aims to optimize game quality and player experience.
The latest delay has sparked strong reactions from players, particularly in the Western gaming community, as the new release date coincides with the 30th anniversary of the Tokyo subway sarin gas attack, the most severe terrorist attack in Japanese history. Many players believe that Ubisoft’s decision contradicts its supposed respect for Japanese culture.
Some comments from players include:
“This is a game that claims to emphasize understanding of Japanese culture and history, but due to various reasons, it has repeatedly caused controversies. After going through all of this, they should have become more cautious. But it seems that they have not learned their lesson.”
“Now, no matter what they do, it’s wrong. They should just cancel this game.”
“They have delayed it again. This is accelerating Ubisoft’s decline.”
However, it is worth noting that on March 20, 2020, many companies released their popular games, such as “Animal Crossing: New Horizons.” Similarly, on the same day this year, “Xenoblade Chronicles X: Ultimate Edition” will also be released. These previous releases did not generate such significant opposition. The controversies surrounding “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” stem from its depiction of Western characters assassinating in a Japanese setting.
To compensate for the delay and potentially boost pre-orders, Ubisoft has announced that the first DLC of the game, called “Awaji Hunting Claw,” will offer over 10 hours of additional gameplay and will be provided for free to pre-order players.
Ubisoft has been struggling with poor game sales since last year, with its stock price hitting a low of 10 euros in September. In October last year, there were reports that Ubisoft’s major shareholders, Chinese gaming giant Tencent and the Guillemot Brothers Ltd., the founding family of Ubisoft, were considering acquiring the company. The possibility of “privatizing Ubisoft” was explored in discussions with consulting firms. This news led to a surge in Ubisoft’s stock price by over 30%, reaching a closing price of 14.2 euros. However, according to Google Finance data, Ubisoft’s stock price is currently below 10 euros, with a year-on-year drop of 44.92%, and its market value has plummeted to $1.536 billion. Whether “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows” can help Ubisoft overcome its challenges remains to be seen.
Despite its current downward trend, Ubisoft has shown a positive attitude toward blockchain and cryptocurrency as a traditional game developer. In recent years, Ubisoft has been actively involved in NFTs and blockchain games. For example:
In March last year, Ubisoft became a new node validator for the XPLA blockchain network created by South Korean game company Com2uS. This move indicated Ubisoft’s commitment to strengthening blockchain technology and expanding the Web3 gaming field.
In December 2023, Ubisoft announced the launch of its first original blockchain game, “Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles,” and its Ethereum NFT “Warlords.” The game offered priority NFT minting for pre-registered players.
At the end of 2021, Ubisoft announced the upcoming release of its test platform, “Ubisoft Quartz,” which allows users to obtain NFTs that can be used in-game, such as weapons, outfits, or vehicles. Ubisoft Quartz operates these NFTs, called “Digits,” on the Tezos blockchain.
Despite its current challenges, Ubisoft’s embrace of Web3 technology and its involvement in NFTs and blockchain games demonstrate its willingness to explore new possibilities in the gaming industry.
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