Announcing new games in very early stages of development is nothing new for the industry, especially during major events like E3. Companies and studios tend to utilize the bright lights and maximum exposure to get fans excited for what is yet to come, even if a game is still a long ways off. Naturally, this has led to plenty of disappointments over the years as games continue to shift and evolve into something a little more different than what was originally shown. Other times, fans are left wondering what happened to a game if it goes dark for a few years after the initial announcement, just like what is currently happening with Bayonetta 3.
Ubisoft is a company with a huge amount of IPs and franchises, some of which have been missing in action for quite some time. While Prince of Persia has been fairly dormant over the years, a Remake of the fan favorite Sands of Time is launching in 2021, with many hoping that this could lead to more down the road. Other franchises like Rayman and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell haven't been quite as lucky and remain in limbo leaving fans to wonder if they'll ever resurface again.
Over the years, Ubisoft has had a tendency to make game announcements early, resulting in those titles to go missing for an extended period of time, or simply continue to be delayed multiple times. Here are all of the Ubisoft games and franchises that fans really need an update on.
Skull and Bones
Arguably the biggest poster child for game delays is the pirate game, Skull and Bones. Originally revealed back at Ubisoft's E3 2017 press conference, Skull and Bones took the ship battles of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and seemed to expand it into a full fledged experience. The announcement trailer and subsequent videos showed off a tactical action game, where players would take control of classic warships like frigates, sloops, and brigantines to wage war on other players in a massive open map. Featuring a single player campaign as well as multiplayer battles, players could fully customize their ship and captain, unlocking even more content as they leveled up and acquired treasure.
Since then, it appears that Skull and Bones has run into significant development issues. Originally intended to launch in the later half of 2018, the game would ultimately be pushed back into 2019 and then again in 2020. However, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot would later confirm that the game was now set for launch into a new fiscal year that spanned the April 2021–March 2022 time frame. While development continues on the title, Ubisoft Singapore has found a new vision for the game which not only caused many of these delays, but other Ubisoft support studios have been called in to assist like Ubisoft Berlin.
It's unknown when Skull and Bones could resurface as the news regarding the new direction of the game was revealed just last year implying that the game still has a long road ahead of it.
Rainbow Six Quarantine
After a slow start all the way back in 2015, Rainbow Six Siege has quickly gone on to become a major force for Ubisoft. The game has seen five years worth of expansions from new maps, operators, and even limited time modes like the unique PvE mode, Outbreak, which was part of the Operation Chimera expansion. While the game itself is primarily focused on PvP modes, Outbreak was a popular departure from the norm, pairing three players together to contain a viral outbreak against AI enemies.
The mode was so well received that Ubisoft quickly created a spin-off title called Rainbow Six Quarantine to focus on the cooperative and tactical FPS style gameplay instead of the PvP of Siege. Using the foundations of Operation Chimera and the Outbreak game mode, Quarantine received a short teaser trailer at E3 2019 and then has been relative quite in the months and years since. With such little information to go on, fans have been concerned that the anticipated title has been canceled by Ubisoft.
However, that doesn't appear to be the case as fans got a bit of good news that the game was still in active development. While likely not the news they wanted to hear, Ubisoft confirmed that due to difficulties with the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of its games, including Rainbow Six Quarantine, have been delayed and will release sometime between April 2021 and March 2022. Unfortunately, that's really all fans have to go on, but there's hope that 2021 is the year Ubisoft is finally ready to show off the game.
Beyond Good and Evil 2
Besides Skull and Bones, the other major franchise fans have been clamoring for from Ubisoft is the long awaited sequel, Beyond Good and Evil 2. While the first game in the series was a commercial failure for Ubisoft, the game itself developed into a cult hit with a very passionate fanbase. While fans had long since wanted a follow up to the 2003 action-adventure game, rumors of a sequel began circulating as far back as 2007 with conflicting reports continuing to string along the fanbase in the years after. It wouldn't be until 2017 when Ubsioft surprised everyone by revealing a short cinematic trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2 at its E3 press conference.
Since the reveal, news on the game has been infrequent at best with long stretches of silence leading most to assume the game is suffering in development hell or put on hold. Reports have even indicated that the cinematic trailer from 2017 was created before production had even started on the game. Since then, updates have been on the shorter side, focusing on specific gameplay elements, characters, or the community focused Space Monkey Program. The game is running on a brand new engine called Voyager and promises to allow players to travel and explore several different planets. The biggest reveal came a year later in 2018 as a new cinematic story trailer confirmed the return of the first game's protagonist Jade, though she now appears to be an antagonist of sorts.
Where the game is right now is still unclear but it would appear that things are progressing. The past year saw a few hurdles to the project as director Michel Ancel surprisingly left Ubisoft to retire from games entirely. For all the hardships, Ubisoft has reaffirmed that it is happy with the game's current development and that it is finally in a playable state. Better yet, fans may finally get some answers in 2021 as Ubisoft has confirmed that a gameplay reveal is finally coming this year.
Far Cry 6
One of the newer titles on this list, Far Cry 6 was just revealed last year during the first Ubisoft Digital Event. As the game seemingly leaked before the event, fans were treated to a lengthy cinematic trailer showcasing renowned actor Giancarlo Esposito in the role of Dictator Anton Castillo and his son Diego played by Anthony Gonzalez. The ominous trailer shows Anton guiding his son who is holding a live grenade through his expansive home to the rooftop where a rebellion is taking place in the streets. The end of the trailer shows Diego standing on the ledge of the roof as Anton continues to tell him what it means to lead.
It was a thrilling and tense trailer, though following that July reveal, the game has not been seen since. A few details have since come out including the protagonist Dani Rojas, a character that can be either male or female similar to Eivor in Assassin's Creed Valhalla. Originally scheduled to launch March 2021, Ubisoft included Far Cry 6 in its recent game delay announcements, now launching anywhere from April 2021 through March 2022.
Without much else to go on, fans have been attempting to uncover new information, even leading to wild theories about the game. In fact, many are convinced Far Cry 6 is a prequel story for Far Cry 3 villain Vaas Montenegro. Prior to the game's announcement, actor Michael Mando teased a potential return to the franchise, though considering his character's fate at the end of Far Cry 3, fans were a little confused. With the reveal of Diego Castillo, fan theories started to indicate that he could be a young Vaas, setting Far Cry 6 up as a sort of prequel showing how he becomes the person he is. However, that in and of itself is incredibly unlikely and would require some serious retcons.
Splinter Cell
For longtime fans of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, it has been a frustrating seven years of waiting. Following the release of the well received but poor selling Splinter Cell: Blacklist, the series has seemingly been put on hiatus. Each year at E3, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot would be asked about the franchise and its potential return, only to confirm that it remains important to the company but there was nothing new to report. Rumors would frequently appear online regarding a new game being in development, though to this point nothing has materialized.
In fact, Ubisoft has seemingly been content to simply utilize Sam Fisher as a guest character for other games. Over the past few years, Fisher has been included in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Breakpoint, Elite Squad, and as a playable operator in Rainbow Six Siege called Zero. Fans have begun to accept that this may be Fisher's new fate as Ubisoft would rather use him as a guest character than give him a new game.
However, hope may be on the way. Last year, Ubisoft announced that Red Storm is working on a Splinter Cell virtual reality game. While it may not be the game that fans were looking for, this could be a way for the company to reintroduce the brand since it has been MIA for nearly eight years to this point. With each passing year, it seems like the call for a new Splinter Cell game from fans increases. With the recent return of the stealth-focused Perfect Dark, many hope that Ubisoft is planning a similar revival.
Star Wars
Disney surprised everyone at the start of 2021 by announcing Lucasfilm Games teasing projects from all sorts of studios like Indiana Jones from MachineGames as well as a new Ubisoft Star Wars title. At one time, Electronic Arts had exclusive access to the IP, but it appears that the deal has ended early which now allows other companies to try their hand at Star Wars in addition to EA.
While the Ubisoft Star Wars game was just announced with almost no details, it hasn't stopped the community from excitedly speculating over the possibilities that another studio getting access to the Star Wars franchise could achieve. While details are extremely limited, Ubisoft has confirmed that Massive Entertainment is handling the title and it'll be an open world game, something that the studio is very familiar with. Massive is best known for its recent work on The Division franchise, with both games featuring large open maps of New York City and Washington D.C. respectively. While it'll still be some time before Ubisoft reveals more about this mysterious title, especially if the announcement marks the start of production, many are already excited to see what Massive can do with the brand.