Star Wars Outlaws, a “mid” game, as Gen Z’s say these days, has failed to meet sales expectations. As a result, the company’s stock took a significant hit, losing over 10% in just two days and pushing its market cap below €2 billion on the Paris Stock Exchange.
However, Star Wars Outlaws is merely symptomatic and not the cause of the larger issues plaguing Ubisoft. In recent years, the company hasn’t produced blockbusters. While Ubisoft was once known for innovative franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, these franchises have lost their luster, with players growing tired of formulaic gameplay and repetitive design elements.
Ubisoft’s inability to adapt to changing market trends has left it vulnerable in one of the most competitive industries. Unlike its rivals, the company has failed to establish a strong foothold in the lucrative live service game market. Electronic Arts has FIFA (now EA Sports FC), Activision boasts Call of Duty and World of Warcraft, and Take-Two dominates with Grand Theft Auto Online and NBA 2K. Ubisoft, on the other hand, lacks a comparable cash cow to sustain its operations and fund new projects.
Further compounding the issues faced by Ubisoft is its reluctance to embrace Steam and pony up 30% of its sales. Ubisoft’s strategy of releasing games exclusively on its own Ubisoft Connect platform and the Epic Games Store has backfired, with many players simply waiting for the eventual Steam release or steep discounts. This flip-flopping between wanting “all the money” and not wanting to share revenue with Valve (Steam’s parent company) has resulted in a lose-lose situation.
While releasing games on their own platform may yield higher profit margins, the company is missing out on the massive user base and visibility that Steam provides. Ubisoft Connect pales in comparison to Steam, an issue that was also brought to light when Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford went on X to talk about his regrets about making Borderlands 3 exclusive to the Epic Games Store in 2019.
It certainly doesn’t help that Ubisoft’s games are lacking any distinguishing factor or identity, designed by a committee of executives rather than passionate developers with a clear vision. Star Wars Outlaws, despite its potential, seems to have fallen victim to this design-by-committee approach.
While Star Wars Outlaws is a good game, and it’s clear Massive Entertainment put a tremendous amount of effort into recreating the Star Wars universe, it feels forced, unimaginative, and derivative. It feels like a clone of Red Dead Redemption 2 or Metal Gear Solid V while failing to capture the same magic that made those titles successful.
To turn things around, Ubisoft needs to focus on innovation and creativity rather than relying on tried-and-true formulas. Investing in passionate development teams and giving them the freedom to create unique experiences could help the company recapture its former glory.
The ideas for good games are there; it’s the execution that falls short. xDefiant, Star Wars Outlaws, and Immortals Fenyx Rising are examples of games that could’ve blown up and become big with a couple more tweaks.
Between a heavier emphasis on letting developers do their jobs and reconsidering their stance on releasing their games on Steam to enjoy a wider reach and visibility—the potential increase in sales volume in doing so could more than make up for the reduced profit margin per unit—and changing the perception that their games will go on a massive discount within a couple of months being released, Ubisoft can still turn things around.
If they don’t, Ubisoft will have no choice but to watch its stock prices tank or find a buyer at a massive discount, as video game companies aren’t exactly flush with cash right now.
