Assassin's Creed Shadows Can't Stop the Ubisoft Rot of Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant

@VanguardKaiser I like the cut of your gib.

But truth! Breakpoint suuuuuucked. Just give us a co-op shooter in a big open world again. Fix the issues the recent titles suffer from (like janky/broken squad members and lack of tactical options). Lean more toward MGSV's design and away from online looter shooter nonsense, leave that to the Divison IP.

Put more walls up between the titles/IP. Ubisoft games need to feel more distinct and not be so homogenized.

Imagine what the losses would have been without Shadows.

Xdefiant did have the chance to make CoD sweat, but they took too long to release the game and all the hyped dried up before it even released.

@ShogunRok You left out Beyond Good & Evil 2, saving Ubisoft for 15 years running.

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2010/06/stop_worrying_beyond_good_and_evil_2_is_still_in_development_apparently

And still going.🤣

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/06/beyond-good-and-evil-2-is-still-in-development-ubisoft-assures

Edit: Decided articles from 15 and 1 years ago was too wide a gap so adding this one from 7 years ago by quintumbly to split the difference. I think anyone who has ever worked at @Pushsquare since it's inception has written at least 1 article about BG&E2. 🤪

http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2018/12/beyond_good_and_evil_2_looks_ambitious_and_massive_in_new_gameplay_video

I think they can do it if they just stay the current course. Assassin's Creed is easily their biggest and best bet which is why they have so many projects in the works for that series. Far Cry is also a steady seller for them too so that helps.

It may not make for the most exciting headline, but when your back is up against the wall as a company, it makes sense to rely on your most steady sellers to get back to profitability. I have hope Ubisoft can turn it around.

@Starkei @Blaze215 @dskatter In this same financial briefing, Ubisoft confirmed that Shadows had the second best launch in franchise history, behind only Valhalla (which is still Ubisoft's most profitable game ever).

So while it's never given us direct sales numbers, they don't really matter if the game's clearly making so much money. You simply can't have the second best launch of any Assassin's Creed game and be a commercial failure — otherwise every previous AC game was also a flop (which they obviously weren't).

Shadows is also the second best selling game of 2025 so far in the US, and it topped numerous charts in Europe.

All evidence (including Ubisoft committing to two years of post-launch support) suggests that it's been a big hit — but it would have had to be an utter juggernaut on almost Rockstar-esque levels to dig Ubisoft out of its current hole.

It saddens me to hear about the plight of Outlaws. It's an objectively good game weighed down by expectations and outright apathy toward Ubisoft. I have tired of many of their franchises over the years but as an old school Star Wars fan I waited for Outlaws to be patched numerous times and go on sale and.... it's a very decent game in my opinion. I think current standards are so high among a few developers in the gaming industry that it's fueling an unnecessarily negative perspective on many other games like Outlaws which in years gone by would be considered excellent. It looks pretty damn amazing, the attention to detail for a Star Wars fan is perhaps unrivalled by any other Star Wars game and although basic mechanically, it has a decent story, good voice acting and is what games should be - fun. I know I'm not alone here. Any Star Wars fans bashing it without having played it are missing out. It's a Star Wars game I've always wanted.

I feel for Ubisoft when it comes to SW: Outlaws, in particular. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself, but I feel like Disney's over-exploitation of the Star Wars IP has just killed most interest in it. It probably felt like a sure-fire hit whenever Ubi and Disney made the licence agreement for the game, but the intervening years have not been good for SW.

shame outlaws was a good game

It honestly shocks me how surprised Ubisoft were that a game that releases in a good state, with few bugs, is something that will sell better than a game rushed out, bug laden and clearly in need of more time in the developmental oven. How can a company as big as Ubisoft not already know this? How can they possibly expect to realise decent profits on a game that ends up with rubbish reviews, and with people openly warning others off from buying it? That they were shocked when a game that receives good reviews and positive word of mouth, after having been delayed until it was in a good state, says all that is (was) wrong with Ubisoft and the games industry in general.

All we can hope it that all publishers see the difference that more time can make to their profits, and that they allow developers the necessary time to get their games right.

That said, I won't hold my breath...

@ShogunRok yes I have seen those comments but no figures to back any of it up. What does second biggest launch actually mean? Sales pre and on launch day? Sales in the first week? You say it's making so much money, have you got any figures for that? No matter what you think being cagey about the acutal numbers isn't a good sign. Every game that is successful cannot wait to publish figures proving their success we see it time and time again.

Ubisoft is capable of making quality games, I'm just not sure why they pump out so many stinkers in between them. Stop trying to chase the live service bag already. How about making another Rayman platformer? Or a Watch Dogs game that has an acutal protagonist (I still think whoever made that decision should have been fired)? At least they hit the mark with AC Shadows, so far it's my favorite AC game along with Odyssey.

I picked up starwars, admittedly, a few weeks and patches after launch, but what a thoroughly enjoyable game it was, even went as far as 100% and platinuming the game, it deserves a sort of re-review or re-release thrown it's way, I enjoyed it far more than jedi survivor.

Ironically outlaws is the best Ubisoft game I’ve played in about a decade. For my tastes anyway…

Have they released actual sales figures for Shadows yet?

@VanguardKaiser I would rather have a Judge Dredd game, like your wonderful avatar. Just imagining something like Cyberpunk but set within Megacity One with the bike and adjustable gun and sentencing criminals on the fly... perfection.

@Blaze215 I definitely agree with this. If Assassin´s Creed Shadows was so successful, why haven't actual sales figures been published yet? Seems suspicious, if you ask me. Also, Ubisoft would be boasting these numbers to back up their claims of success.

@Perturbator maybe the RoboCop dev will listen to our pleas? They've really respected the Terminator and RoboCop franchises recently.

@Lup hmm, without Shadows Ubisoft wouldn't be nearly so far in the red, the game has deservedly been an absolute disaster in terms of sales, don't fall for the disingenuous 'players engaged' spin which is a clear red flag indicating it has not met anywhere near expectations

@ShogunRok all the evidence beyond official Ubisoft press releases full of PR weasel words and spin indicate that this game has been an absolute disaster in terms of sales - the most recent being that even AC Origins is enjoying greater engagement right now, their reticence to report its poor sales is most likely due to trying to assuage their investors at a very sensitive time

@Perturbator That's been my hope for so long. It's Rebellion Press though so it would most likely go through Rebellion Games. I'd take anything 2000AD, they have such an amazing roster to pull from but Judge Dredd is up there as my most wanted. Slaine would be amazing too, each time Rebellion pull off a great game I think 'one step closer to a Dredd game'.

@Silenos Ubisoft has nothing to do with third-party sales data, though. Again, it's the second best selling game of 2025 in the US, and it topped charts in Europe.

I get that having no concrete sales numbers is annoying, but saying it bombed is crazy at this point.

Plus, Ubisoft — or any company — can't outright lie to their investors and shareholders. If they're saying it did well in their financials, it did well.

Outlaws was the only great/good Ubisoft game in a decade or more
so unfortunate to see

@SaltySpitoon957 I know right? It seems like common sense to be sceptical without any numbers to actually see how well it did.

I dunno maybe it actually did do really well, but proclaiming it a huge success without any definitive data just seems strange to me.

I actually started Outlaws last week, though I took it out of a library, so paid nothing 🙃 I actually like it quite a bit. It's super derivative and underwhelming in certain ways, but it's also a nice throwback. It's feels like a pretty PS3 game, and I say that in the nicest way possible.

@16BitHero Agreed, Outlaws failing is some of the worst gaming news in recent years. I also waited for patches and a sale and the game is fantastic. A sequel with improvements on customization, added characters, new locales etc would have been amazing. Its such a shame. First Ubisoft game I've beaten in ages

Everybody talk about crap games. but hey. You all buy ubi games more than others companys. like me. And its true. ubi games are much more enjoiable than others games. Is a fact! Im not those dumbs that only see a video from a dumb youtuber just to decide. i decide for myself. If i like...i buy it! Ubi you have my gratitude. Just need make games... a little better ok
Obs. Star wars, assassins creed shadows, a.c. valhalla are good games. Youtubers are ruinning some games.
Ps. Srry my english

@GirlVersusGame I really believe it could happen, we've recently had Mad Max, Terminator, RoboCop, a few Aliens games....there is a market for these brilliant old franchises and word of mouth has perhaps helped them enjoy even more success. The Dredd film is one of my favourite action films of the last few decades, up there with Fury Road. Fingers crossed!

I'm thinking the reason we haven't seen any sales data is likely because the sales are somewhere under 3 million, which would only look bad for Ubisoft after boldly announcing the game reached "3 million players". And since the game's momentum died before 4 million players, they had to stop with the weasel milestones. Granted AC games have legs and will undoubtedly sell more as the game starts to get significant discounts.

Was talking to a mate about this. Imagine being Ubisoft, known French publisher, and the game that has electrified interest in the French gaming industry is Clair Obscur, a game spearheaded by a Ubisoft refugee who hated working there.

@ShogunRok I still want to know the sales numbers.

I actually started the Star Wars Outlaws demo when it was released in the last few months, after the early stealth frustrations had been patched (according to the press). Although it looked and controlled OK, I was already starting to waiver early on when I hit a 'mini-game' that, if I remember, involved a rhythm game to open a lock. After several frustrating attempts, I stopped and deleted the demo. No where near the same league as Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, which I enjoyed a lot.

Ubisoft used to be my favorite game developer. But there came a point where they just didn't care anymore, and made games based around their formula rather than a good story or innovative gameplay. So many of their games in recent years were just the same derivative mechanics and pointless filler fetch quests over and over. Playing Outlaws felt like playing Black Flag mixed with the Tom Clancy games. AC games have become so repetitive. I was not planning on buying Shadows, but after so much positive feedback I gave in. Played it for about 10 hours, and just got bored. It has a fresh coat of paint, but ultimately it's just more of the same. Except that the story and voice acting is absolutely atrocious. They have gotten so lazy with their game design, and I would say a 17% decrease in sales proves it and is well deserved, except that of course it will be the hard working developers who pay, not the management that encourages it.

@ShogunRok The problem with the financial briefing, Is the way the data can be manipulated. While shadows may have the second best launch of an AC game. The launch only counts for day 1 sales. The problem is that Valhalla was released 5 years ago when development costs where cheaper. I suspect at least 50 million more was spent on shadows. Valhalla was also available on more platforms so had a wider userbase. As shadows is not on PS4/Xbox one. The install base for the PS4 then was also much larger than the PS5 is at present.

I suspect shadows needed to have had the best launch of a AC game for it to be super profitable.

Having worked for a publish myself in the past I know how financial reports can be twisted. Many AAA games now need to speed weeks at number 1 for them to make a large profit. Indeed I seen developers unhappy with games that got to 2nd in the charts.

In the rush of stories about why games must have state of the art graphics. The real story is being lost. Simply it's not realistic any more to release games with PS5/PS6 graphics. I suspect in future more games and companies will take the nintendo approach of weaker graphics and more cost effective development.

I have seen first hand how low spec PC games can sell far better than high spec ones.

Outlaws was a pretty solid and competent game, dragged down by a licence that has been utterly trashed and run into the ground by Disney.

I got it for free and it was my lack of passion for the licence that put me off and saw me drift away from it.

If I felt about the licence how I did in the 80's, 90's and 00's, I'd have finished it and be raving about it.

When I think I raved about Dark Forces back in the day, and people think that Shadows of the Empire was a good game, Outlaws blows them both out of the water.

"Assassin's creed may have been a hit but not merely enough to make up for other losses etc etc"

In other words it wasn't a hit at all. I for one didn't buy it but give a few months I might join ubisoft+ to play for free

Words like “best day one revenue” and “highest steam player count” are misleading word salad to disguise poor sales data.

Eg: older Ubisoft games didn’t release day one on steam and revenue has sky rocketed since the price of games has increased over the last 5 years. Lipstick on a pig comes to mind.

@Silenos I can believe that the game had a good launch, but it doesn’t mean it kept selling continuously. The fact it is now less played than some other ACs titles is really disturbing. When you see that CCE33 is still in the top 10 on steam and is still selling well, it tells a lot on what can be considered a success.

@16BitHero That sounds like a good match. I'm sure they could tackle an open world game too. Although I guess Megacity One would have to be limited to just a part since its supposedly the size of 3 states.

@GirlVersusGame Slaine is awesome. Read it first in Heavy Metal magazine many years ago, but I think I have the graphic novels around here somewhere. Simon Bisleys art is just something else!

@dskatter
That would be impossible, they refused to share the numbers when asked by a stakeholder.

They used to be one of my favourite publisher/developers but not anymore although for £15 AC Valhalla was a hit for me. Hopefully the next AC and Farcry games are appealing but I doubt it, I'll reserve judgement for Splinter Cell remake but I hope they don't mess it up? Other than that I think they should call it a day and sell certain IP to studios that can deliver but I appreciate the time and effort to make that happen.

@Blaze215 I have seen these comments to and it turns its mostly based on the sales charts it has been leading in. But you know were they get these numbers ? From a business that sells the game ? very few. From Sony ? No. From Microsoft ? No.

They give them to the charts themselves. There has been suggestions over the years these numbers are manipulate by the publishers like Ubisoft for marketing purposes. Because when people see actual sales numbers for titles when they have to report them and it does not add up with supposed success on these charts.

But someone polices these charts to make sure they are legitimate right ? No. The people supposed to have more important things to do apparently. So the numbers are submitted by the publisher. And policed by the same publishers.

A big business would never do anything dishonest to try and make more money....Right ?

@KonstantTrouble if it's not regulated then I would have no trouble believing a big business would fudge the numbers. I havent heard this before but if true then that's pretty damning

@CielloArc Impossible or not, someday the numbers will hopefully come out!

@ShogunRok You're so desperately trying to defend this game's "success" that you're missing the point. Yes, it clearly sold well by some standards (relatively to other AC games or to other titles so far in 2025). But the actual metric that matters is how much money it made relatively to its overall cost. And we all know how bloated Ubisoft is. Afaik, we don't have that number, but judging by this financial report, it doesn't look so good.

@RudeAnimat0r I got very envious that your library lends video games, then I checked my local library’s site and so do they! Now, I just have to get there when they’re open to see what they have.

@Blaze215 When I was a kid it was very easy to get cigarettes and be under age. It was illegal and regulated. But there was no enforcement or consequences at the time for a business that did not care. Its similar here. It is regulated but what does that mean. It should mean people not part of the process looking into verifying data checking for honestly and accurscy. No one is doing that in practice. They just say its something they are in charge of but never do any of its responsibilities.

@KidRisky Only one of them in my area does, and they have a pretty small selection, but I've borrowed Outlaws, the newer 2D Zelda, PoP: Lost Crown and Tomb Raider Remastered. It's great to check out games I'm not 100% sold on and if no one else requests it I can have the game for up to 6 weeks.

Im still loving Ubisoft spinn on success off Ass Creed 4,soo great off success that they had to delay other projects cause off it. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣