E3 is a no-show in 2022, and that means that publishers that time their announcements around the annual event may treat this year differently. That seems to be the case with Ubisoft, which told Axios that it would be skipping the festivities this month in favor of a Ubisoft Connect event later this year.
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Ubisoft does have a somewhat hearty slate of games in development, but it’s possible that not enough are ready for the spotlight. Its open-world Avatar game is slated to release sometime before April 2023, but details on it have been slim since its reveal. More Skull & Bones news is supposedly imminent, as the title reportedly recently held a technical test, yet Ubisoft hasn’t said anything since its acknowledgement of the leaks in April. The company has been similarly silent on Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, which is also unveiled in June 2021.
Two reports also allege that Ubisoft is developing a smaller Assassin’s Creed game starring Valhalla‘s proto-assassin Basim, but that hasn’t been officially confirmed. It’s unclear how Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake are faring, too, given how both have been plagued with issues since their respective announcements. Many of these games are shrouded in mystery, and given all the delays across the industry, it’s easy to see how the publisher might not have enough to hold an event in June.
2022 may just be a year light on big announcements, as other companies have also paired down on their usual pomp and circumstance. Electronic Arts is also canceling its annual EA Play event, focusing instead on game-specific announcements like it did with the recent reveal of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. And while Xbox and Bethesda are still holding a joint stream this month, Sony’s upcoming State of Play isn’t a typical big, E3-like showcase and Nintendo has not announced a Direct for the summer. However, it’s not too late since the company revealed its last June Direct in the beginning of June, only giving a 13-day lead time.
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It was inevitable that the effects of the global pandemic would affect the game development cycle. Because of how long it takes for a modern AAA title to come to fruition, players are just now seeing the drought that fans of other media have been dealing with for a long while. Still, even with a shortened schedule, Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest Live and the usual band of publishers will try to make this June as exciting as possible under the circumstances.