Ubisoft and live service video games at all costs

Is this a sustainable model?

Ubisoft and live service video games at all costs

Is this a sustainable model?

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The release date of Skull & Bones, Assassin's Creed: Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is still a mystery. Not to mention the fate of the now-evanescent Beyond Good & Evil 2.

After numerous postponements, the Ubisoft catalog appears to be characterized by an increasingly uncertain structure, made even more dangerous by rumors about cancelling three other Ubisoft games that were never announced. A complicated and, at least in some ways, troubling picture, which Games Industry expert Rob Fahey recently analyzed.

It might not work as expected

According to the video game veteran, the French giant's problem would be found in its quest to convert to a live-service formula for its IPs at all costs. "Games that after 50 or 80 hours should come up with the end credits and offer a sense of fulfilment," the journalist writes, "are instead trying to convince the player to come back to them to take part in strange and purposeless thematic events between Christmas, Halloween or Valentine's Day holidays.''

The result is an expansion of the experience that not only requires not inconsiderable production and management costs but also is risky in terms of audience reception.

In case you missed it: Rhythm and musical games for PC that you should play during 2023 - Part 3.

Live-service conversion of IPs with different DNA, such as Assassin's Creed, Rob Fahey continues, could prove completely counterproductive for publishers, who, in the face of losing historical fans, may not be able to acquire new ones.

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