Ubisoft was still due to release three major AAA games before the end of the current fiscal year, but now that number has been reduced by one after Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora was delayed into the fiscal year 2024. The game was also delayed alongside a smaller unannounced premium game, although Ubisoft clarified they “can’t say more at this stage” about that one.
Why was Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora delayed?
Both Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and the smaller unannounced premium game were delayed into the fiscal year 2024 due to “ongoing constraints put on production across the industry”. During the company’s investor’s call, Ubisoft said “we are working hard to adapt and redesign our workplace conditions and policies to ensure both flexibility for our teams and others’ productivity” while bearing in mind the need to offer ” the best experiences for players”.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will definitely miss a potential tie-in opportunity with the Avatar: The Way of Water movie later this year. Bearing in mind it is now due to be released between April 2023 and the end of March 2024, it will also be released before the movie that’s tentatively titled Avatar 3. Despite this, Ubisoft said Avatar is an “amazing global entertainment brand” that “represents a major multi-year opportunity for Ubisoft.” They later added, “there are also lots of movies coming and lots of activity in that brand in the next few years so we are treating that brand like a video game brand.” The upcoming Avatar game is expected to “entertain for the years to come.”
In other news, Ubisoft’s bad news kept coming as they canceled Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and two unannounced games. Elsewhere, the release date for the upcoming crime thriller movie The Good Nurse has been narrowed down and is still due to premiere on Netflix later this year.