Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora made a big splash during its reveal in June 2021. But outside of some tech trailers that released shortly after, the company has been quiet about the game based in James Cameron’s film franchise. Ubisoft still didn’t have more to show and instead announced that it was delaying the open-world game to a 2023 to 2024 time frame. And in addition to that delay, the publisher revealed that it had canceled four other games.
Ubisoft spilled all of this information in its Q1 earnings report. No specific reason was cited for the Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora delay aside from the team wanting to “[deliver] a cutting-edge immersive experience that takes full advantage of next-gen technology.” Ubisoft had previously said 2022 before slightly updating that window earlier this year and saying it would release before April 2023 at the latest. This newest delay now means April 2023 would be the earliest it would come out, which seems optimistic at best.
RELATED: Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s New Roadmap Includes Another Mode & Free Expansion
Another unannounced premium game was delayed to that same 2023 to 2024 time frame. It’s not clear if this is the next Assassin’s Creed game, which is reportedly set in Baghdad and stars Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s Basim Ibn Ishaq. One of the reports from February that broke news of the game stated that it was slated for late 2022 or 2023, so it could possibly fit the description of the mystery game from this newest earnings report. Regardless, the “future” of the series will be revealed in September during its 15th anniversary stream. That already heavily implies this new game will be revealed then, which is something Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier backed up as well.
Ubisoft has canceled development of Splinter Cell VR and Ghost Recon Frontline (and two other unannounced games)
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) July 21, 2022
Ubisoft did more than delay games, as it canceled a few, too. According to Axios reporter Stephen Totilo, the publisher canceled Splinter Cell VR, Ghost Recon Frontline, and two other unannounced titles.
Splinter Cell VR was announced alongside an Assassin’s Creed VR game in September 2020. However, it is unlikely the latter was canned too since it was not named.
Not much was known about Splinter Cell VR, but Ghost Recon Frontline is a different story. It was a free-to-play battle royale shooter that Ubisoft revealed during the franchise’s 20th anniversary stream in October 2021. The game was received terribly and Ubisoft almost immediately delayed its technical test without giving a concrete reason aside from being “dedicated to creating the best experience possible.” Fans bashed it for losing sight of the franchise’s tactical roots and looking like a generic shooter. Most of these comments can be found below its reveal video.
The publisher is still holding a Ubisoft Forward event on September 10, which will undoubtedly contain reveals and give a clearer picture on what its studios are working on.
