After a dismal reception to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Ubisoft isn’t keen on seeing another less than stellar game release. So to make sure their library of upcoming titles are met with positive reception, Ubisoft has delayed Watch Dogs: Legion, Gods & Monsters, and Rainbow Six Quarantine into the next fiscal year.
“We have not capitalized on the potential of our latest two AAA releases. For Ghost Recon Breakpoint, while the game’s quality appeared on track – based on E3, Gamescom, previews and our latest internal playtests –, critical reception and sales during the game’s first weeks were very disappointing,” says Yves Guillemot. “As we have done with past titles, we will continue to support the game and listen to the community in order to deliver the necessary improvements.
The company went on to breakdown three reasons why Breakpoint underperformed:
First, it is harder to generate interest for a sequel to a Live multiplayer game, when prior iterations benefited from years of optimization. Consequently, we need to make sure there is more time between each iteration of Live games.
Second, our strategy of introducing gameplay innovations in our games has had a very positive impact on our brands. However, to win over players, these innovations need to be perfectly implemented to offer an optimal experience. This has not yet been sufficiently the case with Ghost Recon Breakpoint. While the change of formula has been very well received by some players, with an average daily playtime per player of over three hours, it also has been strongly rejected by a significant portion of the community.
Finally, Ghost Recon Breakpoint did not come in with enough differentiation factors, which prevented the game’s intrinsic qualities from standing out.
Just like The Last of Us II, a delay is good for developers and better for gamers. This allows the studios to finish and do their best to keep their vision intact as well as allow for more polish.
