Ubisoft Says Star Wars Outlaws Underperformed, But It Still Turns Up A Top-Seller In The US

Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s ambitious new open-world RPG, got off to a humdrum start following its release at the end of August this year, with Ubisoft reporting “softer than expected” sales for the title. Pre-release marketing for Outlaws was also “the biggest marketing effort we’ve ever undertaken for a Ubisoft release,” as confirmed by company CEO Yves Guillemot, but despite all that, the project couldn’t quite cut it. 

While [Assassin’s Creed Shadows] is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title,” said Ubisoft investors. 

However, Star Wars Outlaws is still a best-seller in the US. Matt Piscatella, a known Circana analyst, took to Bluesky to report the company’s market analysis of August, confirming that Ubisoft’s latest venture is trailing behind only two games in the entire month, and both of those are EA’s sports-centric iterations. 

The takeaway from this is that while Star Wars Outlaws might have sold decently, it did not sell as well as Ubisoft wanted it to. Take a look at Assassin’s Creed Mirage, for instance. That one rolled over 5 million units within a short span, effectively becoming Ubisoft’s biggest next-gen launch to date. With Star Wars Outlaws’ budget and marketing costs, it makes sense to have higher expectations in mind right off the bat.

Ubisoft Is Gearing Up To Release Assassin’s Creed Shadows 

Ubisoft’s stock is at a 10-year low at the moment, with the decision to delay Assassin’s Creed Shadows coming shortly in the wake of that announcement. An insider claimed earlier that the company spent about $800 million on Skull and Bones, and it’s the reason why Ubisoft is suffering the way it is, because that project could get nowhere. 

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, therefore, will now be released on Valentine’s Day next year as opposed to the initially planned November 15 launch day. Do let me know whether you’re excited about the game in the comments ahead.