Ubisoft's Black Friday Fiasco: Delaying Earnings and What It Means
Ubisoft's Black Friday Bait-and-Switch: Free Games While the Ship Sinks?
So, Ubisoft's giving away Immortals Fenyx Rising for free. Okay. Big deal. It's like finding a slightly stale donut in the breakroom – yeah, it's "free," but you're also wondering why nobody else wanted it.
The "Generosity" Smokescreen
Let's be real, this reeks of desperation. They're trying to distract us from the fact that they delayed their earnings report at the last freakin' minute and asked for a trading freeze. Convenient timing, ain't it? "Hey, look, a free game! Don't pay attention to the dumpster fire behind the curtain!" I wonder what numbers they're hiding.
Kotaku reported that Ubisoft's CFO told employees they couldn't share any explanation for the delay "due to legal regulations." Oh, "legal regulations," the magical phrase that explains everything and nothing at the same time. Give me a break.
And the Black Friday sales? "Up to 90% off"? Yeah, on titles nobody cares about anymore. Meanwhile, Assassin's Creed Shadows is 40% off. Still too expensive for a game that'll probably be riddled with microtransactions anyway. It's always something. Always.
Remember when EA said they were going private in a $55 billion deal? Are we headed for another acquisition? Maybe Microsoft will buy them out and stick all their games on Game Pass. That's what I'm waiting for offcourse.
The Illusion of Choice
Immortals Fenyx Rising… I played it. It's fine. A solid 76-81 on Metacritic, depending on the platform. Which translates to: "It's okay, I guess. You won't hate it, but you won't remember it next week." Polygon said it "can't help from becoming a game that shoves you down a path." Which is just a fancy way of saying it's boring. You can even get Ubisoft's Immortals Fenyx Rising is free in Black Friday 2025 deal.
This whole "free game" thing is supposed to celebrate five years of Ubisoft Connect. Five years of… what, exactly? Five years of another launcher I have to install on my PC? Five years of cross-play that nobody asked for? Five years of achievements that give me zero real-world value?
I get it, they're trying to build an ecosystem. They want to lock us into their platform. But here's the thing: I don't want to be locked into your platform! I want to own my games. I want to play them whenever I want, wherever I want, without having to jump through a million hoops. Is that too much to ask?
Then again, maybe I'm just being a grumpy old gamer. Maybe I should be grateful that they're giving us anything for free. Maybe I should just shut up and download the game and be happy. But honestly...
The Future of Ubisoft?
So, what's next for Ubisoft? More delays? More "free" games as damage control? More corporate doublespeak? I don't know. But I do know one thing: I'm not holding my breath. The industry is changing. The old guard is struggling. And Ubisoft, with its endless sequels and its desperate attempts to stay relevant, is starting to look like a dinosaur staring down an asteroid.