Sony, Xbox and Nintendo will not appear at this year's E3 according to an exclusive with IGN. However, if the show still happens in 2023, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed in a third-quarter conference call that the company will be present with "a lot" to show.
Ubisoft has had an onslaught of bad news surrounding it recently, so it's no surprise that the company is seeking to put together a compelling showcase this year to show players why it's still worth its place as one of the industry's titans.
After all, the company has gone through a sixth delay of Skull & Bones, delay of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake moving to a new studio, indefinite delay of Beyond Good & Evil 2, and underwhelming sales for both Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023.
Beyond delays and poor sales, don't forget the cancellations of Roller Champions, Hyper Scape, three unannounced games, Project Q, Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and another two unannounced games.
As reported by IGN, Guillemot claims in its conference call that Ubisoft cancelled those games to "make space for other games," ensuring that its other titles are "progressing well."
But what will it take for Ubisoft to regain our trust? With so many premature announcement and cinematic trailers presented during its conferences, it's becoming an uncertain coin toss on whether or not a game announced by Ubisoft will actually even launch anymore.
During Ubisoft's September 2022 event, the company unveiled five new Assassin's Creed games, which include Assassin's Creed Mirage, Assassin's Creed Codename Red, Assassin's Creed Codename Hexe, Assassin's Creed Codename Jade, and an untitled mobile game. Even though it's been less than six months since we've seen that showcase, I can't help but wonder if these titles will be delivered.
Assassin's Creed is an enormous money maker, with Valhalla quickly becoming the company's second most profitable game ever, so I sincerely doubt that Ubisoft would let any of these Assassin's Creed titles slip through its fingers. But we need to be shown something this year to convince us that its upcoming line-up actually exists.
Assassin's Creed Mirage is set to launch in 2023, designed to bring players back to the franchise's roots, so it's pretty much guaranteed we'll see it in the coming months (unless it gets delayed). Hopefully Ubisoft can begin regaining trust after all of the disappointment in the last couple of years.
