On this one I'm completely on the side of the argument that it's not the normal sluggish start scenario for Ubisoft ala Resident Evil 7, it's a very poor performance that's to blame instead.
I feel part of the reason is that they had to become aggressive and sharp minded to fend off the Vivendi acquisition but once that was done they'd had a taste of EA style success and have pursued that. Rainbox Six: Siege has been a great success story for their GAAS model grafting, turning around a slow launch into a lasting success but such feats are rare. Stack it against their other output and it's hard to not see the rot set in:
Far Cry: Has been in decline all generation, respinning increasingly bland repackages of FC3 to weaker results as it goes.
The Crew: Never really recovered and the sequel was effectively a repackage of the game with DLC aspects tagged onto it. Ubisoft was way too slow to wise up that this franchise was a misfire.
Watch Dogs: Already wobbled with its soft figures for the sequel meaning a lot rests on the next game for the future of the series.
The Division: Largely sold on the hype of its reveal at the start of the generation, as much as I enjoyed the final game there was no hiding the lack of interest that surrounded the sequel. I think this is a key failure for Ubisoft too as it embodies their GAAS model fairly well and its slow performance isn't akin to Resident Evil which was a complete reinvention of a long running franchise so polarizing by default, this was more of the same so should have been a relatively easy sell... unless the audience came away from the first game feeling done with it.
Ghost Recon: I feel this suffered a little from early sales pitch which neither pleased long term fans but also sold it as some sort of team GTA experience whereas the reality was shonky. The latest game was a wreck of things no-one wanted and late into the GAAS party for Ubisoft when players aren't as easily fooled.
For Honor: Ubisoft have done well keeping the lights on for this so long but I'll happily call it right now - if they make a sequel they'll have another flop on their hands
Assassin's Creed: Possibly the hardest to pin. I think franchise loyalty helps with this being so long running, as does current audience thirst for more Witcher III style experiences. The most successful, not sure its current model will endure either though.
To me, with next-generation launching late next year it makes the delays to these upcoming games terminal unless it's with the explicit intent of retooling them to ride out the next gen hype in hopes that lifts three games that were likely also going to struggle at launch. I honestly don't feel they've been delayed for any other reason than to launch alongside next-gen machine editions.
Ubisoft strongly needs to re-evaluate its line up and make better judgments case by case as to whether MTX, GAAS etc applies. Gods and Monsters will bomb whenever it launches personally, Rainbow Six Quarantine should be DLC for Siege, it won't sell as it is. Watch Dogs 3 is the biggest one lined up and should be a complete package at launch, no real long term DLC plans.
They also need to stop the half dozen variants at launch as well. Standard Editions, Deluxe's etc. Such a bad look from the outset making people feel nickel and dimed before they even begin to play. You really can only have 1-2 GAAS games per gen as a company and Ubisoft lost sight of this, effectively falling into the same hole as EA so it's unsurprising both enter next-gen in weak positions.
I feel part of the reason is that they had to become aggressive and sharp minded to fend off the Vivendi acquisition but once that was done they'd had a taste of EA style success and have pursued that. Rainbox Six: Siege has been a great success story for their GAAS model grafting, turning around a slow launch into a lasting success but such feats are rare. Stack it against their other output and it's hard to not see the rot set in:
Far Cry: Has been in decline all generation, respinning increasingly bland repackages of FC3 to weaker results as it goes.
The Crew: Never really recovered and the sequel was effectively a repackage of the game with DLC aspects tagged onto it. Ubisoft was way too slow to wise up that this franchise was a misfire.
Watch Dogs: Already wobbled with its soft figures for the sequel meaning a lot rests on the next game for the future of the series.
The Division: Largely sold on the hype of its reveal at the start of the generation, as much as I enjoyed the final game there was no hiding the lack of interest that surrounded the sequel. I think this is a key failure for Ubisoft too as it embodies their GAAS model fairly well and its slow performance isn't akin to Resident Evil which was a complete reinvention of a long running franchise so polarizing by default, this was more of the same so should have been a relatively easy sell... unless the audience came away from the first game feeling done with it.
Ghost Recon: I feel this suffered a little from early sales pitch which neither pleased long term fans but also sold it as some sort of team GTA experience whereas the reality was shonky. The latest game was a wreck of things no-one wanted and late into the GAAS party for Ubisoft when players aren't as easily fooled.
For Honor: Ubisoft have done well keeping the lights on for this so long but I'll happily call it right now - if they make a sequel they'll have another flop on their hands
Assassin's Creed: Possibly the hardest to pin. I think franchise loyalty helps with this being so long running, as does current audience thirst for more Witcher III style experiences. The most successful, not sure its current model will endure either though.
To me, with next-generation launching late next year it makes the delays to these upcoming games terminal unless it's with the explicit intent of retooling them to ride out the next gen hype in hopes that lifts three games that were likely also going to struggle at launch. I honestly don't feel they've been delayed for any other reason than to launch alongside next-gen machine editions.
Ubisoft strongly needs to re-evaluate its line up and make better judgments case by case as to whether MTX, GAAS etc applies. Gods and Monsters will bomb whenever it launches personally, Rainbow Six Quarantine should be DLC for Siege, it won't sell as it is. Watch Dogs 3 is the biggest one lined up and should be a complete package at launch, no real long term DLC plans.
They also need to stop the half dozen variants at launch as well. Standard Editions, Deluxe's etc. Such a bad look from the outset making people feel nickel and dimed before they even begin to play. You really can only have 1-2 GAAS games per gen as a company and Ubisoft lost sight of this, effectively falling into the same hole as EA so it's unsurprising both enter next-gen in weak positions.
LOL
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