Ubisoft recently announced it is recording slower sales than expected, and as a result, has canceled three unannounced video games. These projects join four other cancelations the company announced in July, two of which were also titles that had not been officially revealed. In addition, another delay has been confirmed for Skull and Bones, pushing it back into 2024.
The outlook does not look good for Ubisoft. After the delay of important projects with more titles in limbo, failed attempts to enter the NFT market, and sexual harassment scandals, the French studio has been forced to rethink its strategy and, incidentally, cancel many games in recent months. To be specific seven games have been canceled in the last seven months.
Ubisoft's Game Cancelations in 2022
Ubisoft's canceled projects are not limited to the three announced alongside Skull and Bones being delayed. For instance, Ubisoft announced it was canceling Ghost Recon Frontline, a free-to-play entry for the popular franchise, in July 2022. In addition, the studio also decided to drop Splinter Cell VR, a project that was first announced in September 2020. It is also known that two other unannounced games were canceled, with others in limbo and a long list of major titles that are still on their way out. Now the Mario + Rabbids franchise may be in jeopardy after Sparks of Hope "did not live up to sales expectations."
The situation is further complicated games such as Skull and Bones, Beyond Good & Evil 2 and the remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time that remain unresolved with seemingly endless delays. On the other hand, projects such as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora are still waiting for a release date despite franchises like Assassin's Creed expanding more than ever in the coming months. On the other hand, Ubisoft assures that it has another big unannounced game planned for the fiscal year that starts on April 1, 2023. Time will tell whether that actually comes to fruition.
Ubisoft is Facing Major Challenges
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The French company claims to be facing major challenges as the industry continues to shift toward mega-franchises and long-term titles that can appeal to people around the world, regardless of platforms. While Ubisoft is trying to adapt to these trends, the fact that recent releases including Just Dance 2023 and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope have not performed as expected seem to be driving it toward further cancelations as a cost-saving measure.
In a statement to investors, Ubisoft explains that its strategy over the last four years has been to build games as a service and adapt its strongest franchises - mainly Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six and The Division - to these new global trends. However, the games from this investment phase have not been yet released, and in the meantime Ubisoft is lowering its profit expectations by about $500 million.
Ubisoft's future looks pretty bleak coming off of these announcements and game cancelations. The company reached its highest share price in 2018 with a value of more than $100 per-share. Following the recent cancelations, the French studio's Ubisoft's shares plummeted 21 percent on Thursday, trading at just under $20 - the lowest level in the last seven years. Clearly Ubisoft has a lot of work to do if it hopes to recover and earn back its status as one of the industry's premier developers and publishers.