Ubisoft’s plan for getting out of trouble is to carry on just as it is

With the looming threat of being split up or having to sell their biggest franchises, Ubisoft’s answer to the crisis is to… make more open world and live service games.

It’s been clear for a while now that all is not well at Ubisoft, following the disappointing sales of Star Wars Outlaws and the repeated delays and controversies surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

However, pre-orders for Shadows are seemingly healthy and in a new Q&A with investors they’ve revealed details of their plans for 2025 and beyond… which sound identical to the plans that got them into trouble in the first place.

According to CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot, their focus for the future is going to be open world and games as a service (aka live service games) ‘and that’s what we want to deliver year after year.’

‘We have been investing significantly for a big pipeline of products for the coming years along our two verticals, being open world action adventure as well as games as a service native experiences,’ said Guillemot – without naming any specific titles.

However, he did allude to 10th anniversary plans for Rainbow Six Siege, as well as PC strategy game Anno 117: Pax Romana and mobile title The Division: Resurgence.

‘All this is coming along well,’ said Gulliemont. ‘We haven’t provided more colour for FY 2026 but we’ll have more to share by the time of May and, as I’ve just said, we have a strong platform for the future years across these two verticals.’

The investors were right to ask about Ubisoft’s future slate, as beyond the games mentioned, and Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time remake (the status of which, along with the Splinter Cell remake, is unclear) they have nothing else currently scheduled.

There have been rumours about a new Far Cry, a Rainbow Six Siege sequel, and anything up to 10 new Assassin’s Creed games but nothing that’s set in stone and certainly nothing else with a release date.

Traditionally, Ubisoft has seen plenty of success with open world games, across multiple franchises, but the general concept has faced increasing criticism, as players appear to tire of the lack of innovation and bloated runtimes.

Open world games certainly aren’t going away but to focus almost solely on that, when Ubisoft used to have a much more diverse line-up, seems a mistake.

Likewise, their obsession with live service games is not unusual amongst publishers, although like Sony their enthusiasm for the concept is in direct contrast to the small number of successes they’ve had in the category, with the recent closure of XDefiant underlining that Rainbow Six Siege remains one of their few ongoing successes.

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