author: Zuzanna Domeradzka
Ubisoft Withdraws from Japanese Game Fair Two Days Before Assassin's Creed: Shadows Presentation
Ubisoft unexpectedly announced that it will not appear at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2024. This may be linked to the release of Star Wars: Outlaws and Assassin's Creed: Shadows.
UPDATE: Tom Henderson reports that Ubisoft has also canceled the press previews of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which are scheduled for next week. If proven true, this information could lead players to believe that the new "Assassin" will be postponed.
The annual Tokyo Game Show is about to start, where several large companies are set to present their upcoming titles. Despite their earlier declaration of presence, the French company Ubisoft won't be among the exhibitors. Today, the developers of series such as Assassin's Creed and Far Cry announced that they won't be attending TGS 2024 after all.
The company apologized to fans eagerly awaiting this event, as the decision was made quite late - the show of the Japanese branch of Ubisoft was scheduled for September 26. No specific reason was given for withdrawing from the fair, only that it was due to "certain circumstances," which can be interpreted in many ways.
However, Ubisoft's executives likely didn't want to showcase materials related to the development of their games in two days (presentations including AC: Shadows and XDefiant were announced) due to the company's poor performance on the stock market. After the release of Star Wars: Outlaws, the company's shares noticeably fell - before the game's premiere (August 30), Ubisoft's value even reached €17.5, and the biggest drop occurred on September 16, when one share cost €11.33 (via Google Finance). The game was criticized not only by a large number of players but also by the investors themselves, so its launch cannot be considered one of the most successful.
After analyzing its situation and potential negative internal reactions to the material from AC: Shadows (most likely the leaked video), Ubisoft has decided not to participate in the Tokyo Game Show 2024. Some members of the community even suggest that the company made this decision mainly because of how the game would be received by the Japanese audience, given the recent confusion over the historical and cultural accuracy of the title.
