Ubisoft Planning Far Cry 7 & Ghost Recon After AC Shadows

Assassin's Creed Shadows has caused quite a stir inside Ubisoft, not only because of this particular game but also because of the majority of their recent projects. After wasting a hefty amount of money on Skull and Bones, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft has decided to strategize their operation and focus only on profitable games. According to Ubisoft's investor call this week, the company is realistic about the optimization of the day-one experience, especially in light of the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows, but they still acknowledge that there might still be some glitches during releases, which is a usual case for most games.

Ever since the delay in Assassin's Creed Shadows was announced, Ubisoft claims to have an extensive team engaged to ensure the game is error-free, which is eating into their budget by US $22 million. Therefore, a potential investor wanted to know if the game might be further delayed, and Ubisoft promptly responded with a negative. They did, however, state that such a case is quite unlikely. AC Shadows is likely to hit the shelves on 14 February 2025, while Ubisoft is also banking on the launch's success. Based on their projections, Assassin's Creed Shadows will contribute significantly to their record-breaking first-quarter revenue of $980 million.

Obviously, the investor is still worried about Ubisoft's current condition, and no amount of words can soothe their concern. Therefore, they tried to ease their shareholders' concerns during this week's conference call by highlighting six franchises they had bought that had generated around $1 billion in revenue in the past decade. Without a doubt, the Assassin's Creed series ranks highest, being their most successful since 2007. The series alone has generated an astounding $4.3 billion for Ubisoft in the past decade.

Then they mentioned Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege, which may be even more remarkable given that it generated $3.8 billion in revenue over the past decade, and that's only one game. If you're still confused about why every studio, particularly Sony, was desperate to have live-service games, this should help. Impressively, this one title generated nearly as much revenue as seven Assassin's Creed titles put together. And it won't be surprising if the revenue stream continues for the next few years.

After that, they mentioned their most remarkable number, which is $2.2 billion for Far Cry, which covers installments (Far Cry 4, 5, and 6) as well as any spin-offs. Far Cry 5 made a tidy profit in its first week, making a substantial profit, and the game still has around 2800 current players on Steam. The other three franchises, Just Dance, The Division, and Ghost Recon, all grossed over $1.08 billion in the past decade. Considering how badly Ghost Recon Breakpoint performed, I find that one surprising; the other one billion is largely attributable to Ghost Recon Wildlands.

Strangely, Ubisoft didn't mention Watch Dogs, Rayman, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, or Beyond Good and Evil, despite the fact that these major titles have been released in the past decade, with a combined budget of over US $1 billion. In other words, Ubisoft failed to make nearly as much money off of these lineups. Although it's disappointing for some of these series fans, it's understandable why Ubisoft needs to give more attention to their other franchises at the moment.

2025 will be crucial for them, and whichever games they release will have to deliver financially. So, in 2025, we can expect to see Far Cry 7, a new Ghost Recon title, and perhaps the Assassin's Creed Shadows multiplayer mode. The team behind these franchises will be under pressure from Ubisoft management, considering that, when you actually get down to it, the majority of these games made the most of their money in the first five years and hardly scratched the surface in the following five.

Not to mention, Ubisoft canceled The Lost Crown sequel for Rayman Remake and Project Over. So, they were right to get some of the criticisms they received. They probably didn't make enough from their two Prince of Persia games despite Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown being one of the best platformers of recent years. But they delivered so many games that we loved, and we don't want them to fail. Assassin's Creed Shadows is currently getting some necessary open-world modifications, and the developers are hopeful it will achieve the same heights as Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which is considered to be the most successful Assassin's Creed game after Assassin's Creed 3.

We still don't know anything about Assassin's Creed Shadows except for the new leaked gameplay footage shown on Mac, which is essentially the same old gameplay we saw last month. But we are looking forward to seeing how things turn out for Ubisoft in 2025 since they aren't launching anything before that.