Event news E3 2021: Star Wars, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry … What can we expect from the Ubisoft conference?
After an empty year in 2020, the great mass of video games is back in a revised version in 2021 to meet the demands of the health crisis. E3 2021 is a 100% digital event that will officially take place from June 12th to 15th. Ubisoft, a historic gambler whose California conference is expected by many gamers each year, will actually be online to showcase its future game catalog. What does this Ubisoft Forward have in store for us as a reminder on June 12, 2021 at 9:00 p.m. (French time)?
Games expected in “2021”
It would be very surprising not to attend a dancing and colorful sequence during this conference, the secret of which Ubisoft has. Just Dance is a great classic from the French publisher, so, like every year, it should return to the stage with a new episode that we imagine Just dance 2022. However, Ubisoft might surprise us by simply updating the 2021 iteration for a few dollars.
Roller champions, a competitive sports game presented via a demo in 2019 and slated for the second half of 2021, is also expected to use the E3 spotlight to reveal its final release date. Extreme sports have been on the rise lately on Ubisoft’s side. Riders Republic could also find a place in the 2021 release schedule. The multiplayer-oriented sports game from Ubisoft Annecy will delight fans of “sliding” in the broadest sense as well as players who need adrenaline while skiing, mountain biking, snowboarding, wingsuiting and more.
An E3 without Assassin’s Creed is hard to imagine. The publisher will present the next DLC (for downloadable content) for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The siege of Paris will lead the Viking longships to a historic battle in front of the gates of the French capital in the summer of 2021. The conference would be the perfect opportunity to air an initial trailer and reveal a release date. That’s not all. A third piece of content, code-named “Meteor”, is reportedly in preparation. Is it a simple expansion, a standalone game, or a completely different game? Ubisoft’s conference would be the perfect place to unveil the future of Eivor and his clan.
The publisher will pull another license with Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine, which is known to the players. Inspired by the short-lived Outbreak event organized in Rainbow Six Siege, this spin-off has been postponed many times since it was announced at E3 2019. This cooperative shooter, slated for fiscal 2021-2022, will keep the media busy in Space, which is E3 with a trailer and gameplay. Rainbow Six Siege, mentioned above, is also entitled to a few minutes to present its future updates. For honor, Trackmania and Watchdog region will do the same during the pre-show (from 8pm).
Far Cry 6 will be one of the main courses at the conference. Despite a digital event dedicated to this explosive open-world FPS that airs before the show, Ubisoft is not going to ignore one of its flagship titles of 2021. Actor Giancarlo “Gus Fring” Esposito, who plays the dictator Anton Castillo, but also the tropical island of Yara, an archipelago strongly inspired by Cuba, will have a prominent place in the presentation without too much difficulty. As a reminder, Far Cry 6 will be released on October 7, 2021 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S.
Gang announcement of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Quarantine
Ubisoft’s future 2022-202X
Before looking at unannounced projects, it’s worth taking a look at the games that have only a vague release window, or in some cases even none, and there are plenty of examples. Let’s start with Ubisoft’s Arlésienne, a title that hits the headlines with every whisper from the main characters. I have to say that Beyond good and evil 2 is long overdue since the first episode was released in 2003, so 18 long years. Then comes its formalization at E3 2017. Since then, many players have been impatient to discover this space adventure, supervised by Michel Ancel and developed by the Ubisoft Montpellier teams. BGE2 as the star of E3 2021? When we write igamesnews.com we want to believe it.
Some developments are more complicated than others, and Skull and bones is the perfect example. Announced at E3 2017 and originally expected for 2018-2019, Ubisoft’s piracy simulation will be released in fiscal year 2022-2023 and not earlier, i.e. Ubisoft Singapore could use the summer event to get out of its quiet by revealing a simple trailer or an up-to-date gameplay excerpt to reassure budding filibusters.
How about The settlers ? The next installment in the famous management game franchise developed by Blue Byte was missing from E3 2019, and the latest information doesn’t bode well. The release of The Settlers is postponed “until further notice” according to a statement from Ubisoft Studios. E3 2021 could blow a wind of hope as it has been almost a year since Blue Byte stopped communicating on this particular project.
Ubisoft wants to use the nostalgic wind that has been blowing in the video game market for several years to exploit certain forgotten licenses. Prince of Persia, flagship franchise of the 2000s, is talking about her again. The Sands of Time remake, announced in September 2020 at Ubisoft Forward, offers new camera perspectives, a graphical overhaul, a revised combat system and even puzzles. Nonetheless, the game’s release comes up against both the pandemic and a desire to pay due tribute to a major episode first released in 2003. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake could announce its launch date at the Ubisoft conference.
The Assassin’s Creed franchises and especially Tom Clancy’s are not neglected. If the announcement of a new episode for the flagship saga of Ubisoft seems unlikely or in the form of a standalone (see above the DLC “Meteor” for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla), the existence of the project in virtual reality Assassin’s Creed VR is exclusively available on the Oculus platform, should delight fans of immersive experiences. So far, however, very little information has reached the players’ ears. E3 would be a great time to step out of the shadows, and the same goes for another VR project.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell VR, another exclusive Oculus developed by Ubisoft Red Storm, would highlight Agent Sam Fisher. Studios in the state of North Carolina are also working on Free to Play for PCs and home consoles. This multiplayer-oriented title, set to see the light of day in 2022, is called Tom Clancy’s The Division: Heartland. E3 would be the dream theater to present videos in support of the future of The Division saga in video games, but also in the cinema. Film customization with Jessica Chastain and Kake Gyllenhaal is still in production.
Gang Annance de Beyond Good & Evil 2
Avatar and Star Wars from Massive Entertainment
In the end we saved two of the most important projects of the French publisher. These titles, namely adaptations of universes born on the big screen, are in the hands of Massive Entertainment (studios responsible for Tom Clancy’s The Division series). Avatar, a game developed in parallel to the cinematographic sequels, is set to see the light of day in December 2022 which would coincide with the release of Movie avatar 2 In the cinema. This major project, announced in March 2017, about which we know almost nothing, would be an extension of the quadrilogy produced by James Cameron. Is Avatar going to be an open-world action-adventure game, a classic from Ubisoft productions? The E3 2021 conference could provide its share of answers.
The Swedish studios of Ubisoft, based in Malmö, are also venturing into a galaxy far, far away and are working on the development of a Star Wars-influenced game. Electronic Arts is no longer the sole owner of the rights to the video game adaptations of the saga invented by George Lucas, several publishers are interested in the subject, including Ubisoft. Indeed, Massive Entertainment announced a story-driven, open-world Star Wars game last January that uses the Snowdrop engine. (Motor owner of the studios). Historical period, gameplay video, story trailer, etc. the mere presence of the game at this conference could ignite the video game sphere in itself.
Here is a busy program outlook with no less than 18 games hoped and / or expected during this particular Ubisoft Forward E3 2021. Then Ubisoft probably has a surprise in store for us, a great unannounced game, as has often been the case in the past years, just to end its conference in style. Mentioned is an open-ended multiplayer game set in North American environments.
By Silent_Jay, Journalist igamesnews.com
MPTwitter