The Force — the unseen power central to the Star Wars universe — is fading. Following a flop for Disney’s latest spin-off TV series The Acolyte, Ubisoft will be hoping its Star Wars Outlaws game won’t go the same way.
Already, the French video game maker offered up weaker-than-expected guidance in its quarterly results, which sent shares tumbling. With them now trading close to decade lows, the company needs Friday’s launch of Outlaws to succeed to restore the balance.
First-quarter results last month repeated a game that Ubisoft shareholders have played before: delays to new releases muddied already lumpy earnings. This time, the launch of Rainbow Six Mobile and a new Division game have been pushed back to next year. That only increases the market’s focus on this year’s titles, namely Outlaws and the next instalment of the Assassin’s Creed franchise Shadows.