It’s been a tough year for Ubisoft, but it’s preparing to make a comeback very soon with Ubisoft Forward. On July 12, the publisher will show off its best upcoming games for the upcoming 2020-2021 fiscal year. In the past fiscal year, Ubisoft’s seen a few releases that have been self-described as “commercial failures,” like The Division 2 and Ghost Recon: Breakpoint. With controversy ranging from lack of content to a heavy reliance on microtransactions, Ubisoft is focused on the year ahead with its upcoming releases.
Titles like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, Far Cry 6 and more will serve to revitalize the company after its recent shortcomings. Fans will presumably get their first look at these games and potentially some surprises during Ubisoft’s big E3-style conference. These games represent the stepping stones into the next console generation for the publisher, and could make or break its trajectory moving forward.
Capitalizing on Assassin’s Creed’s Continued Success
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a reflection of Ubisoft capitalizing on the continued success of the iconic historical adventure franchise. Since Assassin’s Creed Origins, the series has made an innovative move towards adding more RPG-like mechanics to the gameplay, which has resulted in a serious upswing for the franchise. Examples like Assassin’s Creed Unity and Syndicate in the past simply weren’t received well, especially considering the massive release controversy surrounding Unity. But since then Assassin’s Creed Origins, and to a greater extent Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, have helped rebuild the series with new gameplay mechanics and a refreshingly new approach.
It’s clear Ubisoft wants to continue that trend moving into Assassin’s Creed Valhalla as well. Valhalla intends to retain a lot of the mechanics of progression currently present in Odyssey, whilst also making several improvements to the loot and combat systems. Staple features from past games like the social stealth mechanics and hidden blade will make their long-anticipated return. Combat will be less reliant on better loot/gear and focus more on skill-based mechanics to reduce the need for grinding and prevent button-mashing gameplay. These changes are all efforts in service to making the game more enjoyable for all players, not just hardcore fans. After all, Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s baby at this point, and in the last few years, the franchise has done extremely well for the publisher.
Rising Momentum With Watch Dogs, Far Cry
Watch Dogs: Legion seems to be running with that positive momentum, evolving the game’s core mechanics even further. Innovations like the fluid “play as anyone” protagonist system and individual character classes add tons of variety to the Watch Dogs gameplay loop. Plus the futuristic London setting distances the series from pure realism, crafting an evocative near-future satirization full of charm and wit. Watch Dogs continues to evolve with each entry, and Legion is a reflection of that ambition.
Ambition is something that continues to fuel the Far Cry franchise as well, with each new mainline entry and spin-off bringing something new to the table. While the gameplay has remained largely the same, there have been some core tweaks to the series that’s changed how each game plays. Far Cry 4 added limited side mission coop, which Far Cry 5 extended out to the main campaign along with four players. Story-wise is where the most innovation is taking place, with each Far Cry plot and central villain evolving and changing to different degrees of insanity. Far Cry continues to stay true and dive farther into its core mantra of madness, which Far Cry 6 will undoubtedly replicate.
Potential Teasers and Surprises
Perhaps most intriguing is what Ubisoft plans to accomplish with its new projects like Gods & Monsters. While there’s a clear inspiration from Breath of the Wild’s aesthetic and world-building, Gods & Monsters could be a very promising new IP from Ubisoft. The game’s largely been developed by the team behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, so many of the RPG mechanics present in that game could carry over in a fully-fledged fantasy adventure. Plus Ubisoft’s latest effort into the battle royale genre, Hyper Scape, has been receiving a lot of initial attention from fans in the last week. Ubisoft seemingly commits itself to new projects just as much as its established franchises.
There’s also the possibility fans witness some long-forgotten franchises from Ubisoft’s history make their glorious return. Fans already know about Beyond Good & Evil 2 from the teaser two years ago, but the game has remained largely quiet since then. It’s very possible fans could get an update on the cult classic’s sequel during Ubisoft Forward. There’s also the possibility of another hidden franchise making a return: Splinter Cell. There’s been several rumors and potential leaks seemingly confirming a Splinter Cell project may be in development, and Ubisoft may tease something during Ubisoft Forward. The publisher has been known to tease new projects relatively early, and like every E3 showcase, likely has one or two surprises saved for this year’s presentation.
Ubisoft’s future holds a lot of promise, so long as these games can avoid some of the stigmas and momentum killers in the publisher’s last year. Many of these games have already been revealed and show great promise, and Ubisoft will likely want to double-down on its latest and greatest coming soon.
Ubisoft Forward is scheduled for July 12, starting at 11am PST / 2pm EST.
