With a release date about 2 months away, most would think that a developer would be trying to get their game in front of as many eyes as possible. However, it has been announced today that Ubisoft has canceled its online appearance and press preview at the Tokyo Game Show.
Ubisoft made a statement today saying:
We regret to inform you that due to various circumstances, we have decided to cancel our online participation in Tokyo Game Show 2024 which was scheduled to start at 3:00 PM on September 26th
Removing themselves from the event comes at a very tumultuous time for Ubisoft. XDefiant has reportedly been losing players, as Tom Henderson from Insider Gaming states, “One source told me that the game has been struggling to obtain 20,000 concurrent players across all its platforms, whereas another said, “They [Ubisoft] would probably be happy with that number,” suggesting that it’s now much lower”.
There have also been threats from Juraj Krup, an investor with AJ Investments and Partners, demanding Ubisoft either go private or sell the company as well as suggesting massive developer layoffs. Krup gave the company a 60-day window to respond to his and his companies demands.
These are just some of the factors that have led to Ubisoft seeing a 7% drop in stocks recently as the shareholder uncertainty increases.
Assassins Creed Shadows has also been under fire since its trailer release. A petition has even be written and signed by over 30,000 people, calling on Ubisoft to cancel the release of Assassins Creed Shadows due to its “lack of historical accuracy and respect”. The petition claims that:
- “The game is based on Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai were a higher class of warrior class and should have been ‘gokenin’ or servants of nobles.”
- “In this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history, and may also be linked to Asian racism.”
- “In fact, the first European to hold the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anjin), served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a 250 koku hatamoto.”
It is unclear whether or not these sorts criticisms play a part in Ubisoft’s decision to drop out of the Tokyo Game Show.