Ubisoft's highly anticipated "Star Wars Outlaws" launched in 2024 to sales figures below expectations. Recently, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot publicly addressed the reasons for the first time, partly attributing the underperformance to the "unstable waters" of the "Star Wars" brand, drawing significant industry attention.
During a recent shareholder meeting, a shareholder asked, "What have you learned from the sales shortfall of 'Outlaws'? Have you gained new insights into pricing and marketing strategies?" Guillemot candidly responded, "We did not meet our sales targets. The game was impacted by multiple factors, primarily an unfavorable release window, coinciding with the 'Star Wars' brand navigating 'unstable waters'."
"Star Wars Outlaws" launched on August 27, 2024. In the same year, Lucasfilm released several "Star Wars" series, including "Star Wars: Tales of the Empire," "The Acolyte," and "Star Wars: Skeleton Crew." However, their overall viewership performance fell short of expectations, with "The Acolyte" reportedly even being cut short, casting a shadow over the brand's momentum.
However, Guillemot did not entirely sidestep Ubisoft's own accountability, also noting that the game itself had correctable flaws at launch. "We invested significant resources in debugging and fixing issues during the initial release, and these problems certainly affected early sales."
He also stated that "Outlaws" has undergone substantial optimization and teased a future version for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console: "We are continuously improving this title, and when it arrives on the next-generation console, it will be a more complete version."
Interestingly, Guillemot also revealed that the "less than perfect" launch of "Outlaws" prompted Ubisoft to delay the release of "Assassin's Creed Shadows" to prevent a similar situation from recurring.
For Ubisoft, while the fluctuations of "Outlaws" have created pressure, they have also served as an opportunity for reflection and adjustment. If the brand can rebound and platform upgrades are leveraged, there might still be a chance for a resurgence.
via： GamesRadar+