Looking Back: Ubisoft at E3 2013

With E3 2014 less than a week away and after re-watching last year’s press conferences (mostly to get them off my DVR), let’s recap the claims that were made by each of the Big Three companies (plus EA and Ubisoft) and see how they did almost one year later! Five conferences will be reviewed for not their content quality, but the truthfulness of the claims that were made, between now and Episode 160 of SMYN. Up next is Ubisoft at E3 2013, after the break!

CLAIM: Rocksmith: 2014 Edition will be released in October 2013.
RESULT: True. The game was released on October 22, 2013.

CLAIM: Splinter Cell: Blacklist will be released on August 20, 2013.
RESULT: True. This was met exactly.

CLAIM: Rayman Legends will be released on September 3, 2013.
RESULT: True. This was met exactly…this time.

CLAIM: The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is now in closed beta.
RESULT: True. For what it’s worth, the game entered open beta on February 25, 2014 and still has yet to have a full release date.

CLAIM: South Park: The Stick of Truth will be released in Holiday 2013.
RESULT: WRONG! The game was delayed (again) and was released on March 4, 2014.

CLAIM: The Crew will be released in early 2014.
RESULT: WRONG! The game is currently slated for the third quarter of 2014.

CLAIM: Just Dance 2014 will be released in October 2013.
RESULT: True. The game was released on October 8, 2013.

CLAIM: Rabbids Invasion will be a TV show with Nickelodeon partnership. It will be coming “soon,” with an Xbox One partnership planned with Kinect gameplay.
RESULT: Shaky! The TV show debuted on Nickelodeon on August 3, 2014 and it has been picked up for a second season. The Xbox One interaction, though? No word since last E3 on that front.

CLAIM: Trials: Fusion (Xbox One/PS4) and Trials: Frontier (mobile) will be released in 2014.
RESULT: True. Trials: Fusion was released on April 15, 2014 and Trials: Frontier was released on April 10, 2014.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS with no outright claims: Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Tom Clancy’s The Division

CONCLUSION:

True: 6
To be determined: 0
Shaky: 1
Wrong: 2

For a show that felt very similar to the year before it, Ubisoft’s 2013 conference felt rather average. Talk about some strange announcements, too. The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot? Rabbids Invasion? Even the big surprise, The Division, got delayed to 2015 a couple weeks ago. Though, I do have to give Ubisoft credit. When they gave release dates that were either exact or within the month, they were spot on. Otherwise? Not so much. What about this year’s show? It’s hard to say. If they have another surprise at the end of the show, what could it possibly be? Anyway, onto the grade for the 2013 claims…

CLAIM GRADE: B-

What would you give Ubisoft?

OTHER LOOKS BACK:

Microsoft
EA
Sony
Nintendo