Here's a Rundown of Everything at Ubisoft Forward [12/07/2020]

After months of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations coming out across the industry, it has been a sobering time to remember how far video games have to go to clean up there act. However over the last few weeks its become increasingly apparent that the second biggest publisher in Europe and self-proclaimed paragon of progressivism, Ubisoft may be rotten to the foundation. Countless allegations across the entire company ranging from game developers, community managers, creative directors and even members of HR made Yves Guillemot’s mainstay of publishing the epicentre of the conversation. 

Late last night a press release was put out announcing Serge Hascoet had resigned. Hascoet is viewed as a powerful creative force in the company and had multiple allegations against him. Other officials like Yannis Mallat (head of Candian Studios) and Cecile Cornet(head of HR) have also stepped down from their positions, but may still be with the company. However despite this strong message this morning Ubisoft put out this tweet. 

pic.twitter.com/VvDwBbrA3o

— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) July 12, 2020

Feeling like the epitome of one-step-forward, two-steps-back. This sidestepping of current issues left a bad taste in everyone's mouth before the show even began and that cloud hung over the whole presentation.

Oi, governor! Fancy tearing down the establishment?

Watch Dogs LEGION

We’ll this concept has aged, um, poorly. What was once presented to me an unrealistic near-future London one year ago at Gamescom, is now being pitched as, um, kinda now, like a slightly extreme version of the UK and the US, I guess? Authoritarianism, police states, racism, slavery and more were all keywords being flung let right and centre. Which is really interesting coming from the company that once said their products weren’t political. The gameplay demo itself seems impressive showing missions being approached by different types of people in a variety of ways including; a builder using a wrench, a hacker doing hacker-y things, a private military subordinate partaking in espionage and more. But honestly all-in-all it all just felt quaint compared to the last 4 months. Time will tell if Clint Hockings first game in years can toe the political commentary line between grim dystopian oppressed society and cool wacky hackers.

Brawlhalla

Ubisoft’s Smash Bro-like was announced to be coming mobile with cross-play. It was notable that there wasn’t more from Ubisoft’s other small indie teams ala Child of Light, Grown Home, etc. but there may be a reason for that that will become apparent towards the end of the presentation

Might and Magic: Era of Choas

A few moments was taken to brag about the number of players for a game I have never heard of but has had a quote “a great 7 months”. Glad 2020 has been enjoyable for someone at least.

Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad

This mobile shooter was shown to be a topdown tactical thing last year at E3 and this year “Tom Clancy’s Wonder Team” got a cinematic trailer. The animated trailer featured Siege characters, Sam Fisher, a bad guy from Ghost Recon Wildlands and more Siege characters. It looks neat but it’s sad to see Splinter Cell become little more than a guest character in other properties.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege

R6: Seige has had a long road since 2015. it started as a cool, if overblown tech demo at launch, but seems to spend years of battling server, hacking and balancing issues. Seige is now more popular than ever with its own very successful esports scene and 60 million players. Sadly, that’s all this two-minute ad really said. No new announcements and no word on the spinoff alien-zombie-survival game Outbreak.

Hyper Scape really is a painfully generic name.

Hyper Scape

Ubisoft's early access battle royale game got a story trailer. The trailer started in 2054 by telling us that 30 years ago the planet began to become a dystopian hellscape… great… and then battle royale now happens in VR, that’s all the story you really need to be honest. Anyway, the Quake-inspired shooter enters open BETA today, with a free battlepass, or as they used to be called, a leveling system.

Assassin Creed: Valhalla

Probably the most anticipated game of the show was AC: Valhalla. This comes after the distinct lack of gameplay at the “Gameplay reveal” at Microsoft’s recent showcase. The first few minutes of the presentation was dedicated setting up what we already know about the setup. That being that the game is centred around Norwegian Viking seeking to help his/her community settle in England.

The first feature shown was the new Raiding mechanic, where you sail the English coast and rivers on the lookout for towns to pillage. Then the new variety of enemies and weaponry were demoed. Diversity and choice seem to be the too key elements here, with apparently more enemy types in Valhalla than any other Assassin’s Creed game and the freedom to duel-wield any two weapons together in the new combat system, allowing for things like double shield fighting, because why not? The combat itself seems to have been updated from The Origins/Oddessdy formula with more speed, interactive elements and a stamina bar but hand-on impressions give the feeling that only the most diehard of fans will notice changes. The return of social stealth was next up, hopefully it’s fun this time… Can you tell I’ve never been a fan. Exploration, hunting, fishing and other open-world activities all showed their faces to confirm this was a AAA, open-world game made in 2020. Finally, Assault, a very Middle Earth Shadow War looking mechanic was shown. Here you and you fellow Viking take on large English forts as part of story-based set pieces. As someone from Ireland, you’re going to hear no complaints from me about messing up Imperial Britain.

Ubi I’m begging you, just make female Eivor cannon.

Yves Guillemot showed up to share a “few words” but not the ones anyone wanted right now to be honest. Instead, he thanked the fans and the creators and announced there would be another Ubisoft Forward at some point. He left us with the usual one more thing tease followed by.

Far Cry 6

Instead of much of a trailer we got a HBO style prestige television intro for the next Far Cry game. Followed by a very Far Cry cinematic monologue from Giancarlo Espositio to his characters son and a release date of the 18th of February 2021.

With the announcement that there is another similar event to happen sometime in the future (likely once Microsoft hold their big showcase this month or in August) it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that this show felt light. The notable absence of previously announced games like (the recently leaked, then confirmed to be renamed) Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six: Quarantine, Beyond Good and Evil 2 and the MIA Skull & Bones all left questions to be asked about Ubisoft’s plans for the next few years. But those questions pale in comparison to the silence of the company on it current crisis. You would hope that they address all of this in next showcase and that the next Ubisoft Forward event is sooner rather than later for that very same reason but the company’s poor communication currently leave a lot to be desired.