Ubisoft, the pioneer of open-world games
Ubisoft Entertainment SA is widely known as a French video game publisher that has developed studious across different continents around the globe. The video development team of Ubisoft has been recognized for its competency in developing open-world games. To increase players’ positive attention, Ubisoft has developed games that elevate their eagerness to play such games, which are open-world in nature.
Ubisoft’s major open-world franchises are the Assassin’s Creed series, Far Cry, and Watch Dogs. However, the company’s major controversy over the last couple of years relates to the repetitive nature of each game, which is caused by unappealing side missions and copy-paste design, which distracted the players from the actual storyline.
Controversies that are rising
Since Ubisoft is one of the leading game developers in the global domain, they have had a multitude of successes in the history of the entire gaming industry. This includes various visually appealing and open-world games such as Far Cry games, Prince of Persia, and different Assassin’s Creed Titles, which helped this company to attain significant market share over the past years. However, certain aspects are often overlooked by Ubisoft, which is why they are witnessing criticism from players. This is also propelled due to their tendency to develop games that are very repetitive in general.
The open-world model, which Ubisoft generally rely on, has experienced ongoing controversy and criticism from game enthusiasts from different parts of the globe. After the inception of “Skull and Bones”, which mainly inherits the open-world concept of Assassin’s Creed, Black Flag encountered negative criticism, which is brought about due to the lack of an engaged storyline and flavourless narrative. This has led the previously launched “Assassin’s Creed” Black Flag to be dominating in terms of storyline and open-world inclusiveness compared to the recently launched Skull and Bones. On the other hand, gamers criticized the considerable price of Skull and Bones, and they highlighted the hidden discount on specific tables.
More controversy that Ubisoft is currently facing
Presently, Star Wars Universe, established and published by Ubisoft under the license of Lucasfilm Games, have worked on Star Wars Outlaws, an upcoming open-world action game. However, one of the major controversies and criticisms this game has encountered is caused due to Ubisoft’s decision to lock a mission behind a season pass. In response, Ubisoft revealed that “Jabba the Hutt” will be a part of the experience for all players. However, they have experienced massive criticism for restricting the “Jabba’s Gambit” mission in Star Wars Outlaws, and season passes that allow purchasers to unlock this specific mission have come up with around USD 109 for Gold Edition.
The price of the Ultimate Edition is higher than the Gold Edition and stands at a whopping price tag of USD 129. This highlights that Ubisoft has been more inclined in recent years to promote games like Star Wars Outlaws by setting a higher price range. This has impacted their capability to attain a stronghold in the gaming Industry since their competitors, such as Activision Blizzard, Epic Games, and Remedy Entertainment, are developing superior pricing strategies to sustain and thrive in the market.
In 2023, Ubisoft stated that the open-world racing game The Crew would be disregarded from the store and have its servers shut down in 2024. In response to this specific aspect development team, Ubisoft claimed that it was required to prevent licensing limitations and server infrastructure. Moreover, Ubisoft is also facing criticism since many gaming enthusiasts revoked their connected accounts. This has also raised questions against Ubisoft concerning its promotional transparency and authenticity, which have affected its reputation and image in the international market. Therefore, they should change their pricing model and consider the past gameplay mechanics as well as accurate storylines and narratives that could help this company regain its position in the ever-evolving gaming Industry.
The recent issue with the Star Wars Outlaws, The Crew, and the poor gaming experience with Skull and Bones has also negatively affected the company, where the highly anticipated title of Assassin’s Creed Shadows is due on 15th November 2024.
