Ubisoft Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

New Regency and Ubisoft Entertainment are teaming up for a live-action feature film based on the action-focused tactical hacker video game, “Watch Dogs.” The studio previously landed French director Mathieu Turi (“Meander“) and has chosen the first actor to lead the video game adaptation. Deadline reports that young Aussie actress Sophie Wilde has joined the project.  If you’re not familiar with the original ambitious video game, below is the official logline via Ubisoft’s website as a refresher:  You play as Aiden Pearce, a brilliant hacker and former thug whose criminal past led to a violent family tragedy.

Lexi Carson After spending more than 30 years at Ubisoft, Cécile Russeil has been promoted to executive vice president, starting Wednesday. In her elevated role, Russeil will bring her experience in the company to lead Ubisoft’s functions and teams. She will also be in charge of communications, corporate affairs, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, human resources, and legal.

Star Wars Outlaws drew the ire of fans recently when it was revealed its ultimate edition would cost £115. Now, people have noticed that there’s an “exclusive” Jabba the Hut mission locked behind purchase of the season pass.As noted by NME on April 11, an exclusive mission titled Jabba’s Gambit will be available at launch, but only for players who purchase either the gold or ultimate edition of the game; they both include the season pass which grants access to Jabba’s Gambit.Ubisoft has now responded to the further backlash caused by people noticing that a mission may be unavailable for people who just buy the £60 base version of Star Wars Outlaws.“The ‘Jabba’s Gambit’ mission is an optional, additional mission with the Hutt Cartel along Kay and Nix’s journey across the Outer Rim,” a Ubisoft spokesperson told Eurogamer.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Ubisoft, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, announced the launch date for “Star Wars Outlaws” — the first open-world Star Wars game — and released the official trailer as well as new details for the much-anticipated title. “Star Wars Outlaws” will launch Aug. 30 on Xbox Series X|S consoles, PlayStation 5, Amazon Luna and PC through Ubisoft Connect, at a suggested retail price of $69.99 for the base game.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Disney‘s games group has bulked up executive ranks with new hires and promotions after the announcement of its $1.5 billion investment in Epic Games and partnership to create a virtual world featuring the Mouse House’s brands and characters. Ray Gresko, formerly chief development officer at Blizzard Entertainment (who left prior to its the Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard), joins the Disney Games team as senior VP, product and development.

XDefiant’s executive producer has hit back at reports that the first-person shooter has been delayed due to devs trying to copy modern Call Of Duty games.First announced in 2021, XDefiant is a 6v6 multiplayer shooter that brings together characters from various Ubisoft franchises like The Division, Rainbow Six Siege and Splinter Cell.XDefiant launched an open beta at the start of 2023 but the game was delayed indefinitely in September, after failing a number of console quality control tests.“I know it’s a bummer that we are moving the date especially since we seemed so close and that for many the game is great and they can’t wait to play but I’d rather ship a game that is better for everyone,” said executive producer Mark Rubin at the time.Earlier this month, it was reported that the continued delays to XDefiant were down to the team “chasing” Call Of Duty and copying features found in Modern Warfare 3 and Warzone.However, Rubin has hit back at those claims, calling them a “major eyeroll”.Just FYI, nothing about our delay is due to any new features. In fact not much has changed from a gameplay standpoint.

Ubisoft has announced their latest research project, an AI-powered NPC that is set to make conversations within games “more real”. However, the internet isn’t so keen.In a dedicated blog post, Ubisoft explained that the NEO NPC project uses generative AI technology to turn the “dream” of an actual conversation with an NPC in a video game into a reality and a prototype was shared at the Game Developers Conference 2024.The project was also shared across social media alongside a screenshot of a conversation with an AI-powered NPC called Bloom.

Ubisoft Montpellier has confirmed a post-release roadmap for Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown featuring new bosses, stories and game modes.The Lost Crown, the first new Prince Of Persia game for 14 years, was released earlier this year and now Ubisoft has confirmed a series of updates set to come to the title over the next few months.Warrior’s Path, the first of three free updates, is set to launch later this month, bringing a new speedrun mode and a permadeath mode to the game alongside new Sargon outfits.The second, Boss Attack, is set to launch in Spring 2024 and will introduce more outfits and a boss rush mode to Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege creative director Alexander Karpazis has shut down talk of a sequel to the online tactical shooter.Despite being released in 2015, Rainbow Six Siege still has a huge playerbase, with over 100,000 concurrent players logging in over the weekend (via SteamDB) and regular updates from Ubisoft. However, Karpazis has no interest in a sequel.​​”I can confidently say that we have probably one of the best engines in the world when it comes to live PvP shooters,” he said at the 2024 Sieve International in Brazil [via PC Gamer].

Nintendo Direct has been announced for later today (February 21), with the presentation set to showcase a number of third-party titles coming to the Nintendo Switch.The Partner Showcase is set to premiere at 2pm GMT/6am PT/9am ET and will last for roughly 25 minutes.The first Nintendo Direct of the year will be available to watch live on Nintendo’s website or on their official Youtube channel.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has shared the release windows for both Assassin’s Creed Codename Red and Star Wars Outlaws.Speaking as part of the company’s most recent financial report, Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft were already looking forward to the 2025 fiscal year, which runs April 2024 to March 2025.“Moving forward, we’re gearing up for a very promising line-up for fiscal year 2025,” said Guillemot. He went on to confirm that Star Wars Outlaws, an action-adventure game set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, would be released before the end of 2024.“It should be a major milestone in the video game industry, especially given the undeniable appeal of this legendary franchise that will be coming for the first time to the Open World territory,” he added.Star Wars Outlaws was announced last year.

Ubisoft has announced an open beta for Skull & Bones, with its February release looking set to actually happen.Development on the co-op pirate open-world RPG experience Skull & Bones started in 2013, with the game being made public at E3 2017. Since then, it’s been delayed numerous times with several different directors taking the helm.“Nobody knew what the fuck they were doing,” one former developer claimed, but it seems Ubisoft is now sticking to the February release date it confirmed at The Game Awards 2023.The studio has now announced an open beta for Skull & Bones.

Ubisoft has released a free demo of Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown ahead of its launch next week.Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown is the first new installment in the long-running Prince Of Persia franchise since 2010’s The Forgotten Sands and is due for release on January 15 for PlayStation 5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.Ahead of The Lost Crown’s release, Ubisoft has shared a free demo that’s available now direct from the studio as well as the Epic Games Store.“Dash into a stylish and thrilling action-adventure platformer set in a mythological Persian world where the boundaries of time and space are yours to manipulate. Play as Sargon and evolve from sword-wielding prodigy to extraordinary legend as you master acrobatic combat and unlock new time powers and unique super abilities,” reads the game’s description with the demo offering “carefully selected sections from the game” alongside “early unlocks of time powers and amulets”.This allows the demo to “show the main gameplay features while not spoiling the story”.Ubisoft has also confirmed that progression in the demo will not carry over to the finished game.Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s free demo is available now on all platforms! While you download it, come watch us show off never-before-seen gameplay right now on https://t.co/qsHW1TnJRV!— Prince of Persia™ (@princeofpersia) January 11, 2024Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown was surprise-confirmed in May 2023 during the Summer Game Showcase.

Ubisoft has launched a new update for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, bringing New Game Plus mode to the action adventure game.Update 1.0.6 went live today (December 12) and introduces New Game Plus mode to Assassin’s Creed Mirage. “Upon completing the main story on any difficulty, start a new game while keeping all collected skills and gear/costumes from your first playthrough,” reads the patch notes.Players will also be able to start New Game Plus playthrough via the title screen or pause menu, as well as being able to skip the prologue and start directly in Baghdad.Starting a New Game Plus playthrough will also unlock Bayek’s Medjay outfit from Assassin’s Creed Origins.

Skull & Bones has received yet another release date at The Game Awards 2023. It’s the game’s sixth planned launch following a series of delays.Skull & Bones is set to release on February 16 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

The Game Awards 2023, the annual celebration of all things gaming, is scheduled for the early hours of tomorrow (December 8) in the UK. Besides celebrating this year’s biggest games, it promises to also contain numerous new announcements – to follow them live, here’s how to watch The Game Awards 2023.The Game Awards 2023 is set to begin at 12:30 AM BST (4:30 PM PST / 5:30 PM MST / 6:30 PM CST / 7:30 PM EST).It is estimated to run between two and a half and three hours, per a Q&A with host Geoff Keighley, and fans can watch the show through either YouTube, Twitch, or X (formerly Twitter).As for what will be shown, The Game Awards 2023 will feature a musical performance from rock band Poets Of The Fall, who played fictional rockers Old Gods Of Asgard in Alan Wake 2 this year.Several trailers and games that will be appearing at the show have also been announced, with Fortnite spin-off Rocket Racing receiving a debut trailer at the show.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate is free to keep for the next week from the Ubisoft store.The game is free to own until December 6, with the only prerequisites being that you have a Ubisoft Connect account and the Ubisoft store installed.Players can also only redeem the game on PC, with the Ubisoft Connect launcher not available on Xbox or PlayStation.Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate launched back in 2015 and has a Metascore of 74 on Metacritic, with a 76% rating on OpenCritic.The title revolves around a pair of twins, Evie and Jacob Frye, who are raised as Assassins and decide to free London from the villainous templars.

Ubisoft Massive has shared the PC system specifications for Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, allowing fans to work out whether their PCs can run the anticipated game.The developer listed four visual settings for the game increasing in complexity and detail for the characters and environments.PC players of Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora will also benefit from features like ray tracing, ultrawide monitor support, AMD FSR 2 and DLSS, high frame rates and access to benchmark tools.Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora minimum PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora recommended PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora enthusiast PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora ultra PC requirementsAvatar: Frontiers Of Pandora arrives for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Amazon Luna on December 7.None of the above applies if the player opts for the console version of the game as these versions will automatically be compatible with the technology inside the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.In other gaming news, actor Sarah Michelle Gellar is the official judge of a vampire hunting competition in Diablo 4 where three players will win a prize of signed vampire hunting props and credit to their Battle.net account.

Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR in a new deep dive video.Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR features the memories of Assassins Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Connor, and Kassandra as the player steps into the shoes of an undercover Abstergo hacker trying to prevent the company from rewriting history through these profiles.In the three different periods and locations, players will complete their objectives with the tenets of the series, parkour and stealth. Creative director David Votypka walked through how the movement mechanic has been translated into virtual reality with 360-degree navigation.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Microsoft‘s deal to buy Activision Blizzard got the green light Friday from regulators in the U.K. — clearing the way for the $68.7 billion blockbuster acquisition to close nearly two years after it was announced.

Ubisoft executives have been arrested following an investigation into alleged instances of sexual assault and harassment within its offices.Per Libération, three individuals were arrested on October 3 and another two were taken into custody on October 4. Among them are Tommy François and Serge Hascoët, who both left the publisher after the allegations were made public.François was Ubisoft Paris’ vice president of editorial and creative services, working on series like Assassin’s Creed, Prince Of Persia, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Watch Dogs and others.Joining in 1988, Hascoët served as Ubisoft’s chief creative officer and oversaw the reboots and revivals of Assassin’s Creed and the two Tom Clancy properties Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon.Several years ago, Ubisoft was accused of housing “a toxic system within the [third] biggest studio in the industry, dominated by untouchable men, protected by ‘a wall of HR'” in the report published by Libération in 2020.In response, Ubisoft commenced its own investigations into the claims and conducted an internal survey, concluding one in five employees did not feel “fully respected or safe in the work environment”.Additionally, women were 30 per cent more likely to experience or witness discrimination than men, while non-binary people were 43 per cent more likely to be targeted.“We want to start by apologising to everyone affected by this – we are truly sorry,” said Ubisoft in a statement, pledging that it would “do better” in the future.“Ubisoft has no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment,” said a spokesperson to Gamesindustry.biz on the arrests.

Ben Croll Running Sept. 18 – 21, this year’s fully in-person Cartoon Forum co-production pitch session will build on pre-pandemic attendance numbers, welcoming 290 buyers, among them nearly two dozen first-time participants, while introducing unseen players into the mix. Alongside the commissioners, producers, and broadcasters that have made up Cartoon Forum’s traditional base, this year’s bustling edition will host a growing delegation of publishers hungry for fecund I.P.

Ubisoft has announced XDefiant has been delayed due to console certification issues, with the game now “likely” set for an October launch.XDefiant, a free-to-play crossover shooter featuring factions from Tom Clancy titles fighting against Watch Dogs‘ DedSec and Far Cry‘s Libertad, has been in development since 2021. Ubisoft, however, never pinned a specific date on XDefiant. A closed beta was held in April of this year but it suffered from technical disruptions like server downtime and performance issues.In a post to Ubisoft’s official website, executive producer Mark Rubin said that he wanted to offer fans “full transparency” over why the game would not meet its previously planned release in the summer.“At the end of July, we started [the console certification] process, and we got our first results back by mid-August which was a Not Pass.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell team revealed how much he and the rest of the team disliked the books that inspired one of the most successful stealth series to date.In an interview with Game Informer, former Ubisoft Montreal creative lead Francois Coulon said that “the planets were perfectly aligned” to create the first Splinter Cell entry. However, lead level designer Ed Byrne shared that a number of developers didn’t agree with the author’s political views at all.Byrne added that the Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell team was made up of “a bunch of bleeding heart liberals” with scriptwriter J.T.

Far Cry has been transformed into a virtual reality version of the classic first-person shooter, thanks to the efforts of three developers.Holger “cabalistic” Frydrych, devsnd and praydog have been working on the mod for a little over a month, improving on aspects like visible hands, quick saves, cutscenes, weapon handling and more. Check it out in action below.As well as being free to download and install, the instructions are very simple to understand for Steam VR and Oculus Touch, and it only requires a copy of the original Far Cry to play.

Activision Blizzard games like Call Of Duty, Overwatch 2 and World Of Warcraft could be added to Ubisoft’s streaming service soon according to a new announcement.In response to another rejection from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft tried to rectify the regulator’s point of contention in this move to sell streaming rights to those games to Ubisoft+.“To address the concerns about the impact of the proposed acquisition on cloud game streaming raised by the UK Competition and Markets Authority, we are restructuring the transaction to acquire a narrower set of rights,” it said in a statement (via Video Games Chronicle).“This includes executing an agreement effective at the closing of our merger that transfers the cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years to Ubisoft Entertainment SA, a leading global game publisher. The rights will be in perpetuity,” it explained.As a result, it imagined that the CMA would have enough time to review the new transaction and finalise it ahead of its own imposed deadline of October 18.“Under the restructured transaction, Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service – Xbox Cloud Gaming – or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services,” concluded Microsoft.Chris Early, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and business development at Ubisoft, expressed the developer and publisher’s enthusiasm to offer “a large library of beloved and classic titles as well as the newest releases” through Ubisoft+.

Naman Ramachandran The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will open a fresh investigation after Microsoft and Activision Blizzard agreed on a new, restructured deal. In April, the CMA had blocked Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion deal to buy video games giant Activision Blizzard over concerns the deal would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market, leading to reduced innovation and less choice for U.K.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is in fact launching one week earlier than expected as it was announced by Ubisoft that the game has gone gold on August 14.“On behalf of the entire team, we can’t wait for you to explore 9th Century Baghdad with Basim,” said the studio.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage will take about 20 to 30 hours to complete, according to Ubisoft Bordeaux, meaning it is a sliver of the size of the previous entry, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.Mirage lead producer Fabian Salomon spoke to YouTuber Julien Chièze on the conclusions of the internal playtesting that is currently happening at the developer. “It’s part of our process, we really want to get as close as possible to the players,” explained the producer (via PCGamesN).“The latest playtimes we’ve received average at around 20–23 hours,” said Salomon.

Star Wars Outlaws is largely influenced by the practicalities of movie-making in the 1970s, as well as the series’ iconic “visual language of reduction”.Revealed in the Xbox Games Showcase last month, Star Wars Outlaws is “set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi”. Not only are the narrative and characters rooted in the original movie trilogy, but the creative director Julian Gerighty has said that everything that the player sees in the game will feel like it’s been lifted from one of the sets.In an interview with EDGE Magazine, Gerighty shared that Ubisoft Massive took the time to develop technology that “emulates some of the lenses of the ’70s” to create a grainy and gritty Star Wars game.“So you have the vignetting, film grain, lens breathing, the curvature of a thicker lens, the slight lens flares – all of these things that are very subtle, but come together to give you a more cinematic experience,” explained Gerighty.Expectedly, these effects are likely to be optional so that players are able to switch settings.

blog post, wherein Blizzard revealed it would be “trying something new” by offering a selection of games on Steam going forward. To note: It has yet to detail what other titles are on the way or when they’re coming, as “Overwatch 2” is the only game confirmed thus far.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Turkish hit TV series “Magnificent Century,” the Ottoman costume drama that spearheaded the country’s TV boom, has partnered with popular virtual gaming platform The Sandbox, becoming the second global hit series to enter the Sandbox metaverse after “The Walking Dead.”  Produced by TIMS Productions’ founder Timur Savcı, and broadcast in over 140 countries with over 500 million viewers globally, “Magnificent Century” will now be available for game players to create their own experiences using both original and established characters and worlds. Global players will be able to equip their 3D avatars starting from the last quarter of this year.

Assassin’s Creed Codename Red, an upcoming Assassin’s Creed title set in Japan, will be launching next year according to one Ubisoft employee’s post.In a LinkedIn post spotted by Access The Animus, a member of Ubisoft’s business development and brand partnership team shared that they are looking for sponsorship partners for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red.While no release date or official title for Assassin’s Creed Codename Red has been confirmed, the post suggested that it will be launching in 2024.“We are seeking sponsoring partner for this title Assassin’s Creed Codename Red for next year [sic],” it reads.

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege player alleged of directing a SWAT unit to Ubisoft Montreal in 2020, has been sentenced in a Paris court.The Montreal Gazette reported that the 22-year-old has been sentenced to three years of community service, and that the ruling also comprises charges related to a DDoS attack on a French government office and on Mojang (the developer of Minecraft).In November 2020, the City of Montreal Police Service responded to Ouahioune’s phone call claiming that there was an ongoing hostage situation at the offices located in Montreal’s Mile-End neighbourhood.A correspondent for TVA Nouvelles alleged that the caller threatened to blow up the building if they were not paid a ransom of more than £1.5million ($2million). In response, employees barricaded themselves in rooms and fled to the roof while the tactical unit swept the building for the instigator.Ouahioune’s motivation for the incident was that he had been aggrieved by 80 bans from Rainbow Six Siege.

Ubisoft Singapore is remaking Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, which might spell more delays for Skull and Bones.On June 30, Kotaku published its claim that there is a remake of the 2013 pirate-themed adventure game in the works, with Ubisoft Singapore spearheading the development of the next-gen game. The two sources asked to remain anonymous as they are not sanctioned to announce anything about this project, but added that the new Black Flag is in the “earliest stages” of development at the moment.

There have been plenty of Star Wars games over the years, but nothing like what Star Wars Outlaws could be. This completely open-world game developed by Ubisoft is set to release sometime in 2024. Star Wars games have mostly been focused on action adventure games and shooters in recent years.