Watch Dogs: Legion delay will let Ubisoft prime it for a next-gen release

Ubisoft has chosen to delay three of its most-anticipated titles, Gods & Monsters, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Rainbow Six Quarantine, due to ‘disappointing’ sales statistics from The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint (via VGC).

In the developer and publisher’s financial report, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that the three games have been delayed as a result of The Division 2’s and Ghost Recon Breakpoint’s poor performance at retail. Breakpoint’s ‘critical reception and sales during the game’s first weeks were very disappointing’, and as such, Ubisoft has changed its course.

In addition, Guillemot established that the change was not to avoid competitors’ release dates as every company’s business strategies are ‘in flux and evolving’ for various reasons. ‘We need to make sure that all our upcoming productions benefit from enough development time. This has been our strategy for many years and it has proven very effective,’ he explained. ‘This situation is telling us we can’t make exceptions. This is even more true when we bring new innovations that require complex optimisations.’

And, Ubisoft has said that Roller Champions and two triple-A titles from its ‘biggest franchises’ will be released in the next fiscal year. Although people will be waiting a little longer for these games, delays only mean good things for the projects. The development team have extra time to finish and polish the games to the highest quality possible, and so there’s less stress placed on the employees. The Last of Us Part II has also been delayed by Sony and Naughty Dog in order that they can deliver a game that exceeds fans’ expectations.