Assassin's Creed Shadows delayed again to "incorporate player feedback,” Ubisoft to “drive significant cost reductions”
Ubisoft has announced that Assassin's Creed Shadows has been delayed for the second time as it requires an additional month of development to incorporate more player feedback. Meanwhile, the company has begun exploring potential sale options and further cost reductions.
The details:
In a strategic update, the publisher confirmed that the game will now be released on March 20 after being pushed back from February 14. Ubisoft explained that the decision will “allow the team to better incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months and help create the best conditions for launch by continuing to engage closely with the increasingly positive Assassin's Creed community.”
Shadows was initially delayed last year after the release of Star Wars Outlaws prompted the company to further polish the title, causing it to miss its original November release date. With the original delay, Ubisoft dropped the game's season pass model, announced a return to day one Steam releases, and stated that another delay was unlikely.
Along with the announcement of the delay, Ubisoft stated that it intends to "drive significant cost reductions" through a "highly selective approach to investments." This implies that it will continue to focus on its existing successful franchises rather than projects like XDefiant, which was discontinued after only a year.
As previously reported, Ubisoft appears to be searching for potential buyers once again, with advisors appointed to "review and pursue various transformational strategic and capitalistic options." Last month, Reuters reported that the publisher was in talks with majority shareholder Tencent regarding a buyout that would see Ubisoft go private and the Guillemot brothers regain full control.
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