Speaking to investors in the same conference call that announced the delay of Watch Dogs, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot revealed that the publisher has also pushed back the launch of their next-gen racer, The Crew.
“Our long term goal is to win the next generation. The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance. We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders. We are building franchises that will become perennial pillars of Ubisoft’s financial performance. In a context of growing successes for mega-blockbusters, the additional time given to the development of our titles will allow them to fulfill their huge ambitions and thus offer players even more exceptional experiences,” stated Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.
The updated launch window for The Crew puts the game’s release sometime in the second quarter of Ubisoft’s fiscal year 2015 — between July 2014 and September 2014.
While today’s news is extremely disappointing, it is hardly shocking when you consider the scope that Ubisoft is shooting for with The Crew. From what we know of the title, the open-world racer spans much of the United States and encourages players to co-op both the campaign and side missions. Sounds pretty ambitious if you ask us.
We will keep an eye out for any further updates on The Crew‘s launch plans and let you know as soon as Ubisoft nails down a tighter release window.