Ubisoft planning 3 ‘distinct, triple-A’ games for early 2020

Ubisoft will release three “very distinct” full price games in early 2020, it announced on Wednesday.

The three unannounced “AAA” titles will release in the company’s fourth fiscal quarter, which runs between January 1 and April 1, 2020.

That leaves Ghost Recon Breakpoint as the company’s only major release announced for calendar year 2019.

All three titles are “very different types of games” and will retail at full price, the company said during its end-year earnings call on Wednesday.

“We are coming with three very distinct gaming experiences,” CEO Yves Guillemot said on the call.

“We used to release two big titles [in Q4], now we’re coming with three,” he added. “We like the Q4 quarter. It’s very favourable for us.”

Ubisoft previously released Ghost Recon: Wildlands and For Honor in the fourth fiscal quarter.

Guillemot explained that the three titles are releasing after Christmas because “we wanted to give those games the development they needed because we know they’re long term sellers, so it’s important that they come with the best opportunity.

“We won’t say anything more today. You’ll know more soon,” he said.

On Wednesday Ubisoft also announced that it has delayed the release of open-world pirate game Skull & Bones.

Ubisoft highlighted growing digital sales and record player engagement as it reported its financial results for the fiscal year.

The company said it’s now successfully operating a less hit-driven business model — it can rely on back catalogue titles to continue to make money over an extended period, meaning it’s “significantly less exposed to new releases”.