Even though Ubisoft has pushed out a few very interesting games as of late, they’ve not been hitting their financial targets. In response, the CEO has announced a set of major new changes to how Ubisoft operates, including a grand return to Steam.
Specifically, this information comes from Ubisoft’s latest financial target update for the financial year 2024-25.According to the CEOYves Guillemot, the reasonably well-acclaimedStar Wars Outlawshas had a “softer than expected” release window. There’s a variety of reasons as to why this might be the case, but it doesn’t seem like Ubisoft’s taken kindly to this apparently subpar performance, and so the company is now finally coming back to Steam for day-one flagship releases.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be the first Ubisoft flagship to release on Steam day-and-date
Guillemot’s announcement came about followingthe recent pushback ofAssassin’s Creed Shadows‘ release date. The game will now be released in February 2025, and Ubisoft claims it will launch on Steam in parallel to Ubisoft Connect and the Epic Games Store, which has not been the case up until now. Further,Star Wars Outlawswill also be getting a surprisingly fast-tracked Steam release. Whereas it’s previously taken Ubisoft literal years to push flagship releases over to Steam,Outlawsis currently slated to release on the most popular PC gaming platform on November 21. This is a gap of three mere months and an obvious response to the game’s “soft” sales.
There have been murmurs about Ubisoftreturning to Steam for day-one releasesfor years. They’ve been bolstered further by the fact that some smaller-scale titles, such asPrince of Persia: The Lost Crown, made it onto Steam quite quickly. Now there’s no denying that Ubisoft’s years-long anti-Steam escapade simply hasn’t panned out.
Back in 2019, Ubisoft’s spokesperson said that “it was a business decision to not put new releases on Steam and focus on the Epic Store and Ubisoft Store.” A valid decision, though not one that’s aged all that gracefully. Guillemot has now said that “in the light of recent challenges, we acknowledge the need for greater efficiency while delighting players.” And, to be fair, some fans of Ubisoft’s output will be delighted by this transition back to Steam. I’ll be honest: I do like a Ubisoft open-world game every now and then, and I was never all that keen on using UPlay or whatever it’s called right now.
Not that Ubisoft will forgo its own platform anytime soon. You’ll still need to have a Ubisoft account at the ready whenever you play one of the company’s games on Steam, but at least you won’t need to bifurcate your gaming library any longer.
Guillemot’s statement was concluded on a curious note: “Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately,” he wrote. “We want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
So there you go, there’s really nothing to worry about:Ubisoft’s games really aren’t trying to make a point ofanysort.
