Watch tonight's Ubisoft Forward showcase right here with us
Let's hope for a good Yves-ning.
We've had a weekend of Summer Game Fest coverage and we're still not done. This evening, it's Ubisoft's turn. The Ubisoft Forward main show begins at 8pm UK time, with a 30-minute pre-show beforehand, and we'll be covering both live, right here, so you don't miss a thing.
What to expect? Big showings for two major new games: Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin's Creed Shadows. They're both nearly upon us. Star Wars Outlaws arrives at the end of August, and AC Shadows in the autumn, so I'd expect extended gameplay showings tonight. We've seen montages of action from the games but what are they like in moment-to-moment play?
Beyond that, we'll likely see more of the free-to-play Tom Clancy shooter xDefiant, which has only just been released, and probably something of Just Dance, because Just Dance is always there. But will we see anything of the elusive Beyond Good & Evil 2, or the troubled Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake? We can always hope.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Good afternoon! We're getting through it all now. Are you excited to see more of Ubisoft's wares?
AmbientInclusion says: So, at the exact same time as Steam's official broadcast for Next Fest? How nice of Ubisoft to make sure all these nasty indie games with their unique ideas won't stand a chance to get any attention! There's only one correct way to make games, and Ubisoft has been following it to the letter for decades!
D'oh!
Kami says: Hasn't Beyond Good & Evil 2 overtaken the record for longest in development? It overtook Duke Nukem Forever. And that's the only thing that made DNF interesting, it doesn't even have that anymore! XD
Gosh I don't know. I think DNF was 15 years. How long has this one been? I think I remember being at the Ubisoft event in Paris when it was announced.
Good evening. Here we are again. Ubisoft has always historically put on a good show. Let's hope the same is true of this evening.
Anrkist says: All I want is a new Trials game, to make use of the instant load times of ssd storage. RIP Redlynx.
Ah, Trials! I remember visiting RedLynx before Ubisoft bought it. It was such a scruffy little place in Helsinki. That game was a firm favourite at Eurogamer!
Kami says: Just checked, it was announced E3 2008, so we're at 16 years since BG&E2 announcement!
Wow! Crikey.
Ubidays! That's what it was called. I think E3 was on hiatus that year so Ubisoft hired the Louvre - I kid you not - to hold an event in instead.
The pre-show begins
OK, the pre-show is going to be a load of old guff by the sounds of it. We're having a look back on some incidental details from games that have already come out.
You know, I was going to joke that at least we weren't going to hear about Skull & Bones during this conference, but now that's not true. Any effort to get it in, Ubisoft will.
Is it any good? I'm still yet to play it.
Durrel Brown says: You know I do not like SGF as a replacement for E3 for one simple reason. Every time E3 came around then mainstream news paid attention to games for that one time a year. Since this switch to the summer game fest and these individual online things that doesn't happen
Oh really? But then games are covered more thoroughly in mainstream press anyway these days, I think?
Hey Ubisoft, give us a... wave.
Sorry.
Kami says: Skull & Bones left a lot of people salty.
Haha - bravo!
Imagine being on the Ubisoft water team in Singapore. I mean, it's really cool tech, but still.
I remember playing the first Rocksmith at an event in London years ago. Andy Farrant was there with Inside Xbox before he co-created Outside Xbox - that's how long ago it was.
I had the best intentions to learn guitar and chart my progress. I didn't.
Just Dance now - consistently the best game ever. We're seeing Just Dance VR, it's coming 15th October. You can have an apartment in it, you can whack your furtniture while playing in it. Probably. I bet it gets sweaty in that headset.
Indie sizzle reel now - all games supported by Ubisoft.
This must be Monopoly of some kind, but it's all very 3D. Oh, there's the board. Monopoly VR maybe? It's very first-person. Oh, it's just Monopoly apparently. Coming September.
Kami says: Monopoly isn't as much fun when you don't have an egomaniac in charge of the bank.
Monopoly is a load of old rubbish all of the time.
I completely missed the name of this. King of the Hat! It's out on Steam, a multiplayer brawler. Looks like a good Friday at Four game.
Bit of Rainbow 6 Siege now. I almost wrote "sieve" then; that'd be quite a different game, wouldn't it?
"In Rainbow 6 Siege, there are always two teams..."
"In Rainbow 6 Sieve, there are always two outcomes..."
Kami says: Eh, I always appreciated being the Banker. Didn't even really play. Just sat there and everyone buttered me up for loans with decent repayment schedules. And yes, arguments.
So are you perhaps suggesting you are the egomaniac?
Giggle.
Kami says: I Can't Believe It's Actually Tom Clancy!
I mean, I guess you've got people watching, why not re-promote some of your games? Siege has been great for years. Not my cup of tea, if you're asking, but it seems to be very well regarded.
Love that the dramatic voice over talked about the Siege esports winners as "world wide icons". Are they?
Ubisoft apparently hosts a very fancy screenshot competition each year and then has a swanky party in an art gallery for it.
Ooh another indie game, a stylish platformer staring a wombat or something like it. But they can change into other mechs and all kinds of other things. Looks like it plays well. It's called Biomorph and it's available on Steam.
So Star Wars Outlaws is going to kick off the show in 10 minutes apparently.
I wonder in what way Ubisoft supports these games? Clearly they're helping advertise, but does it also help fund them? Or perhaps they're incubated at one of the studios? Hmm, no, maybe not that.
We're seeing a game where you roll around as metal balls here called Battlecore Arena. A free-to-play action shooter thing. Looks fun.
Is this For Honor now? I remember when that was one of Ubisoft's stars of the show. Is anyone still playing? It was good once upon a time.
It looks like there's a whole Japanese-themed addition coming to it. The Muramasa Blade. It's a new season coming at the end of June.
Quick glimpse at Riders Republic, and people riding bikes in the snow - inadvisable. Far Cry 6 flashes by. Xdefiant flashes by - I haven't played that yet. Skull and Bones again, and an influencer shrieking. Prince of Perisa: The Lost Crown - legit good. Is that PoP PvP? Trackmania now, and another ridiculously talented player absolutely fizzing through a track. My word. Rainbow Six Siege now and a team coordinating a smoke attack, although they're actually throwing smoke at each other? I can't keep up. They're laughing though.
Assassin's Creed Mirage on mobile devices there, complete with choppy frame-rate. Still, it's an impressive accomplishment for mobile.
Ah, and finally The Division 2. There's a new season coming tomorrow. They're unlocking level 40 and all season one content for everyone apparently - I think that's what he said. There's a free-play week coming.
The show begins
Right! We're nearly at the start line. Let's go Star Wars!
Ooh it's a live musical performance. There's a small chamber orchestra and a solo guitarist.
I don't recognise what they're playing. Maybe it's music from Star Wars Outlaws?
Now it's more familiar - more Star Warsy!
The horns blair as we see some game footage on the screen behind. We're getting a montage of sorts. It's not the Star Wars music though, but it's very reminiscent of it.
The crowd cheers.
Star Wars Outlaws gameplay starts the show
Mathias Karlson, game director at Massive Entertainment, is going to talk us through the Star Wars Outlaws gameplay we're seeing.
One of our motivations for exploring is to find elusive Experts scattered across the galaxy. We're looking for a gunslinger to teach us some new tricks, so main character Kay Vess is going to go to the famed Mos Eisley Cantina to find them.
But we're not there yet. We're in a bit of a dive of a market - in the covered slums. It's misty and literally shady.
Our ship, the Trailblazer, is apparently the last of its kind. The production values as we run on board are wonderful. It's a sumptuos presentation. We press go and transition into aerial gameplay as we fly out of the hangar. The moment we do, we get a distress signal saying someone is under attack and they want our assistance, so we hop to it.
It's simple-looking aerial dogfighting - you fly around and lock enemies in your targeting reticules and then blast them down. You have a few things you can do but this is no flight sim. Voice over plays over the top.
In space, your actions have consequences and can influence your reputation with syndicates. We've impressed one of them, apparently. Then we warp outta there.
We're heading to the desert planet of Tattooine. Atmospheric music - that pensive music of Star Wars - ponders along in the background. There's Mos Eisley, "the legendary hub of scum and villainy".
It's sun-baked and packed with detail. Machines intermingle with sand. Naturally, the Hutt Cartel is a big presence here. The footage is montaging a bit now so we can see the various angles of Mos Eisley. We go to the cantina and then in the blink of an eye we're on a speeder bike of some description, kicking up dust as we speed into the desert.
We've reached our destination. We're looking for a storehouse - a fortress, really. Kay is using binoculars to scout the walls before heading there. Cut to Kay grappling up a platform she just spotted with her binocs. Now she's crouching - the universal language of stealth, and hopping over rocks to get closer to unaware enemies.
She sends her companion creature Nix to attack, before she wades in with some solid uppercuts. She asks Nix to scan the area with some kind of extroardinary senses. Then she's in an punching a Rhodian in the face. Picking a lock, now, to steal some intele. An enemy walks in and we've been spotted. Kay fires from the hip but there's a lot of resistance outside. "We're in trouble, pal." You sure are.
A kind of dog lizard grabs her arm and hangs on, until she boots it off. She's running and gunning with her pistol. It's active, it's got forward momentum. Now, she's otu of there, and we cut to a hut in the dark. It's the bounty hunter we're looking for, a withered old lizard-looking character.
We're asking them to teach us, and it looks like there's a showdown test before they will. It's a side-quest of sorts, basically, and we're promised many, many more. I'm exhausted just thiking about it.
Back in the theatre, the audience is clapping and whooping. Julian Gerighty, the creative director of Massive Entertainment, is now on stage.
He's giving a flavourful blurb about the position we find ourselves in, in the game. We've been asked to pull of one of the greatest heists of all time, he tells us. We'll have to seek out experts all across the Outer Rim. Follow rumours and tip-offs, he says, making it sound like they're mechanics in the game. But we're a wanted criminal in the game, he reminds us, so it's in our interest not to stick around anywhere for too long.
Syndicates have their hands in every part of the galaxy, and if we build our reptutation with them we can earn lucrative rewards. Or we can double-cross them to land an even bigger score, if we dare. He's now thanking Ubisoft Massive and all the partner studios for the game. We're going to get another look at it apparently.
"If you're willing to take the risk, the galaxy is full of opportunity," he says, and walks off.
We're getting more of a montage trailer now. "Welcome to the first open-world Star Wars game," the voice says. Is it? What about Star Wars: The Old Republic - doesn't that count? I'm being fussy; I know what he means.
We're learning a bit about Kay Vess and her companion Nix, who have been partners since childhood apparently. Nix can play dead to distract enemies. Nix can drop objects on enemies, like light bulbs. Kay's got a mini-gun of sorts now.
Ooh, we're seeing a timed dialogue option to double-cross people or not. Imagine Han in the Cantina and having a timed countdown before he shoots under the table.
There's Jabba. Jabba! No lightsabers yet, but we're hearing about the Empire hunting us. There's a TIE Fighter. There are some storm troops - I bet they'll die easily.
The environments look nice. It's a nice look at the wider world of Star Wars. I hope it's not just big for the sake of it though. It has to be big enough to support your speeder, which means there might be lots of emptiness?
Kami says: They're going all in on this one I guess.
It does feel that way!
Reminder that the game comes out 30th August.
We've moved on now, to XDefiant it looks like.
Has anyone played this? There's new content coming. Capture the Flag! Remember when that was a new thing?
It's a fleeting montage-kind of update, this. 2nd July, the new season comes.
Skull & Bones now - there's no shaking it.
Neven Dravinski, senior producer at Ubisoft Singapore is here to talk about it. Season 2 Chorus of Havoc has just begun. Oh wow it has the megalodon in it! I feel bad for being so snarky now. And were those musical ships?
Season three, Into the Dragons Wake will follow it. It's an Aisan-themed expansion by the looks of it. There's a flying dragon sea monster. There's a new 5v5 PvP mode.
That's it.
Prince of Persia: Lost Crown free DLC available now
Gwenn Berhault is on stage now, brand director for Prince of Persia. She's giving a rundown of the PoP history. To celebrate the 35th anniversary, they wanted to give us new, "exhilarating" adventures. She's referencing the brilliant Lost Crown. Ubisoft Montpelier has a treat for us apparently.
First title update, available for free: Divine Trials. Combat challenges, revisited bosses, puzzle challenges, platform challenges, new amulets, new outfits. It's available now.
PoP Lost Crown story DLC Mask of Darkness coming September
Mask of Darkess story DLC coming in September.
The Rogue Prince of Persia from Evil Empire now. Christian Donlan really liked this.
They're announcing the first update, The Temple of Fire. It's a new biome. There are new mobs, new weapons. It's not clear if it's available now.
PoP Sands of Time remake coming 2026
Finally, we're going to be left with a "love letter" to one of their best games in the series. It's Sands of Time - it has to be! The remake!
We see a candle burning in a trailer and then... We see the horrid words "2026". We've got a while to wait, apparently.
Avatar DLC The Sky Breaker coming 16th July
Brief Avatar spot there.
A Story pack The Sky Breaker is coming 16th July, and we're seeing a glimpse of it. We're galloping around more open plains now. A ship crashes down from above. Now there's fire and terror. But yes, more open spaces, more fields, and more humans to kill by the looks of things. Perfect.
The Crew Motorfest getting new Maui island in season 5
Gregory Corgie from The Crew team here now. Season 4 is going to be the final update of year one. It's going to be all about car customisation.
We're getting a first look at the year to come. We see seasons 5, 6, and 7 mentioned. The new island of Maui is coming with the launch of season five. Made in Japan volume two is coming then too.
The Chase Squad is coming to The Crew as premium content in November. We saw a trailer with a dog in it. Does that help?
Now, a man in a toga proclaiming to cows that we're on the cusp of a new age. Someone got paid to do this, you know.
Anno 117: Pax Romana announced
It's a new Anno game coming next year.
Anno 117: Pax Romana, it's called. It's coming out on both PC and console.
We're going to get a Roman gaming experience unlike anythign we've ever played, apparently. For the first time, we can choose our starting location. We can start in Albion if we like, AKA England. But who would want to start there?
That's it for Anno, I guess. They should have called it "Anno what you did last summer". No?
Quick sizzle reel of Ubisoft games now. I guess we're building up to Assassin's Creed.
Do you remember when Ubisoft announced the first Assassin's Creed game? It'd be a horrid place to set a game in 2024, but I remember it being very exciting at the time. That live gameplay demo looked unreal.
Ooh what are we seeing now. Ah, this explains the sizzle reel. The stage has been cleared to bring on some drummers. They're in the dark, lit in red. Thumpy, thump, thump. It's the Assassin's Creed: Shadows music.
Malek86 says: How do you make Monopoly exciting? That's right, you can't, so I can understand why they didn't even bother to try.
Ha!
Come on, show us some Shadows gameplay, you cowards.
Assassin's Creed: Shadows extended gameplay shown
Charles Benoit, game director on stage now. This is their dream project he says. I bet he says that about all the eras. Someone shouts "thank you!" from the audience. I wonder if it's Chris Tapsell.
He's setting the scene about the period, and the duality between the shinobi and the samurai - and we'll play as both of them. Naoe, remeber, is shinobi, she's a young woman forced by war to learn the arts of deception. On the other hand, we'll play as Yasuke, a real figure from history, a samurai.
They'll both have their own stories and their own views on the world. Once they're allied, you can switch freely between them both, apparently. One is a more direct, one is more stealthy.
We're going to feel time passing. There's going to be a full year cycle! That's cool. So we'll have the seasons. Ice will prevent us going under water in the winter. Heavy rain will help us blend into our environments. It's good to see all those many thousands of people who worked on the game given something to do.
Each day and season will bring its own challenges.
He's going to share an extended look at gameplay.
Here we go. Oh and it's all retro pixelated style! No no, not really.
We're on a horse with Yasuke, who's galloping around and talking to himself. He treads his own path he says, as he narrates the landscape around him. Always monologuing, these samurai, aren't they? He's trotting through farms into a village. People mill around, like extras. They bow to him as he walks past - they recognising him as their social better, as it were.
He is decked out head to toe in samurai armour. A dog approaches him and he pets it. A child begs for the samurai's attention. He follows them. The ground is wet and muddy.
We're talking to an older lady who I suppose is going to give us a mission. Yasuke talks to her, now without his helmet on. He's been given a mission to assassinate someone called Fujioka.
A little to-do list pops up on the screen. The town he's walking through - or city, perhaps - is very detailed. There are lots of people in it. Yasuke is still monologuing.
Oh, someone is telling us to step away, but there's no chance we're going to. A fight ensues. Yasuke is using his club to batter the shit out of this enemy. Jesus christ - they had no chance. He swings like he's playing baseball and practically swipes the enemy's head off. Brutal.
Head stamp there, just to finish it off.
Not so much skilful samurai, more wrecking ball.
More combat now. We get Japanese-style music with a beat underneath - it's catchy. Oh, now a sword is drawn! It's the boss - it's the guy we're looking for. They're fighting each other but also talking a bit. Oh, we kill him with a powerful stab and then the screen goes into a parchment-like mode and then we chop his head off.
Someone runs from the crowd to attack us but then out jumps Naoe to help us. They're talking to each other. Yasuke is a third taller than her - he's a beast. We see the map. It suggests a very large world.
Ah, we're seeing a Yasuke or Naoe choice now - who do you want to play this section as?
For demo purposes, we're now switching to Naoe.
Naoe is perched on a rooftop - this is much more the acrobatic Assassin's Creed we're used to. She's crawling through long grass. She's also talking to herself. She distracts aguard with a stone or something, then she's on him, rolling over him and killing him in the same fluid move. Then a pounce and a blade from the wrist into someone's neck - kablam! They're gone.
Back up onto the tiled roof. She jumps, lands on an enemy and stabs them at the same time. We see patrols below, but Naoe is running through people's back gardens. An Assassinate prompt flashes up when we get near to enemies. This time, though, she knocks a lady out, by strangling them.
She must have good quads, all this crouching. Oh nice! She stabs through one of those paper dividers.
Naoe zips up and onto the ceiling to hide as someone enters the building. We overhear a guard being berated for not saving the person Yasuke killed earlier. That's the person we want - the person doing the berating. Throwing knife in the back of someone's head: check.
We descend into the water, crawling along under cover. We use a bambo straw to breathe with! Then we're up out of the water, slitting the achilles and then the throat. Now we have an open fight. We're using a chain to attack multiple enemies at once. She takes one down and then she backs out, leaping up the wall onto the rooftop again as torrential rain blows in. Then she's out of the window and we're montaging.
That must be it.
I mean, it looks great. It looks like a proper deep adventure, and I'm intrigued by the dual perspectives. I'm a bit worn out by samurai of late, though.
More montaging now. I guess that's probably a wrap?
The show closes
I wonder if there's a big finish in this. Yves! Is Yves Guillemot, the co-founder and CEO on stage now. He's got all the Ubisoft team - the Ubisoft team at the show - on the stage behind him. There are a couple of storm troopers there too. He's thanking the whole team. He's also thanking the players.
Thank you for watching, he says. And I think that really is it. They're milling off stage. No big surprise. Nope.
That really is it.
Well. That's what we expected I suppose. It wasn't particularly exciting but we did get a good look at two of this year's most prominent games. We also got a release window of sorts for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, which I think is real - a 2026 release date doesn't really inspire much confidence. But they believe in it enough to announce it.
Durrel Brown says: Was this the last big show this year?
Pretty much. There's a Nintendo Direct to follow later in June I think. I'm not sure when.
Kami says: At this point BGE2 feels like an elaborate joke to set the longest development cycle record high enough that no-one will be able to assail it.
Fascinating, isn't it? I wonder how much of it was really ever made.
Thank you everyone for tuning in today. Heart rate unaffected by this showcase. I hope you all have a lovely evening. Bye from me for now!
Oh, shout out to Chris' preview of Star Wars Outlaws that's just gone up. He doesn't sound very impressed.