Despite bringing in around$349.38 million in the first quarter of 2024,Ubisoft’s stock prices haveplummeted to a 20-year lowfollowing the release ofStar Wars: Outlaws.
Star Wars Outlaws' GTA-Style Wanted System Is A “Very Difficult” Challenge For Scoundrels
In Star Wars Outlaws, you’ll have the Empire and Syndicates on your back, and the wanted system dials that experience up a notch.
Although it’sback up to $16.74, the stock bottomed out at $16.42 earlier today, last seen in 2014. For context,Assassin’s Creed: Roguecame out that year.
The main, but not only, culprit behind Ubisoft’s financial trouble is undoubtedly thetroublesome launchofStar Wars: Outlaws. Analysts hadlowered the number of expected salesfrom 8 million to 5.
Still, trouble began long before launch as thegame’s reveal trailerwas filled with gamers voicing their distrust of Ubisoft delivering a solid game and warning against preorders.
Thestory trailerwas even worseas the French developers were put on blast for their “buying doesn’t equal owning” practices and cooperation with Disney—gameplay graphics being significantly worse than cinematics bringing back Watch Dogs memories certainly didn’t help either.
Massive Entertainment Explains Why Star Wars Outlaws Won’t Just Be Another Open-World Ubisoft Game
Star Wars Outlaws' creative director wants you to know that Massive Entertainment isn’t making another typical Ubisoft game.
Outlaws’blunder might be the penultimate nail in Ubisoft’s coffin.XDefiant, their Q1 safety net, isstruggling to break 20 thousandconcurrent cross-platform players, andAssassin’s Creed: Shadows, the possible saving grace of 2024, is facing its own Ubisoft Vs Gamers moment.
Betweencost-reduction programs, layoffs, and general Ubisoft-standard game releases,it’s unclear what the company’s current trajectory is— and ifit’s not profitable soon, someday, delaying investor’s ROIs will bite.
Ubisoft controversy aside,is the game, the product people actually bought, any good?
Should Outlaws Be Left in A Galaxy Far Far Away?
Looking up theMetacritic scorewouldn’t answer this question in any meaningful manner.
Some proclaim"If you’re a fan of Star Wars this game is no-brainer. The game makes you feel like you are actually in Star Wars,“while others say that"Ubisoft continues the trend of limited, unpolished, lackluster games.”
At this point, almost every part of the game is atossup between lovable inclusion or horrible game design. User reviews are almostsplit down the middle between negative and positive ones.
The positive reviewspraise the stealth sections, beautiful graphics, immersive Star Wars lore and vibes,combat,and story.
As usual, the mostly positive critic score has been labeled as “paid for” by many gamers.
Negative reviewsdenounced forced stealth sections with outdated mechanics,PS4-era graphics, breaking away from Star Wars lore and vibes, and lackluster combat, story, and main character. Players also complained ofbuggy collectibles, achievements, and quests,despite downloading patches.
In reality, the “culture war” that has surrounded the game ever since its announcement is likelyto dilute the real score.
While some negative reviews contain genuine critiques of the game, others simply lament the protagonist being a woman. In the same vein, some positive reviews offer no insight other than the game being good.
Ubisoft’s games are always hit or miss— for everyFar Cry4you have anAssassin’s CreedValhalla. But, critics, user reviews, plummeting stock prices, andhearsay shouldn’t stop gamers from trying out and forming their own opinions about why a game is good or not.
Star Wars Outlaws Was Inspired By Mass Effect 2’s Story And Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Map
Star Wars Outlaws' narrative director Navid Khavari also cited several films, including Akira Kurosawa’s work, as influences.
