We can thank Assassin’s Creed Unity for introducing weaponized review embargoes to gamers’ vocabulary. With its myriad technical issues, one could be forgiven for suspecting Ubisoft of having an ulterior motive when it asked sites to hold their reviews of the game until noon of launch day. Well, fear not gamers! Ubisoft wants to make it very clear that there will be no embargo on reviews of their open world racer, The Crew. Unfortunately, we may be waiting anyway.
The Crew will be available to media to begin their reviews when the game launches on December 2. There will be absolutely no embargo on any type of coverage once the game is available for sale. While we fully anticipate that you might see some reviews immediately at launch – largely built around the preview sessions we facilitated during the past months or the limited content of the closed and open betas – they won’t be based on optimal conditions or reflect the finished game.
So there you go in clear language. There’s no formal embargo. No one can review the game until launch day because no one will be able to really play the game until then.
Ubisoft’s open-world social-driven (pun intended) racing game, The Crew, has a $24.99 season pass. What do you get for buying the package? Fourteen cars. Ubisoft says players will also get customization options and missions to go with the new rides, but the meat of the deal is twelve vehicles spread across four DLC packs with two “bonus” cars available at launch.
How does that stack up against other current racers with $25 DLC deals? Not well. Forza Horizon 2 offers thirty new cars in its DLC bundle. Even the terminally broken Driveclub gives players 38 new cars with its season pass.
It could be worse. The recently released Arma III Helicopter DLC only adds two cargo choppers to the game for $16.
Ubisoft’s ambitious open-world racing game, The Crew, has been delayed to December 2nd. Citing the need for extra polish and adjustments, Ubisoft posted that the delay from the originally scheduled release date of November 11th was necessary to allow the developers at Ivory Tower and Ubisoft Reflections to act on player feedback from the recent technical betas.
This ongoing process has already resulted in some substantial updates to the game, including everything from the option to fully remove the HUD so players can enjoy the scenery as they roam freely through a massive re-creation of the United States…to fine-tuning the collisions to be even more realistic and adding in new visual effects.
The move effectively sidesteps a November already crowded with Ubisoft games including Far Cry 4, Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, and Assassin’s Creed: Unity.
Ubisoft announced a couple of delays in their upcoming slate of high-profile games. First up, Watch Dogs, is being kicked back to Spring 2014. The open-world hacking adventure is being pushed to next year to “polish and fine tune each detail” in the game. Next, The Crew, Ubisoft’s highly anticipated multiplayer racing game will now launch sometime in Q4 of 2014. Hey, at least you can look forward to Assassin’s Creed 4 later this year! CEO Yves Guillemot explained both delays during an investor conference call.
“In a context of growing successes for mega-blockbusters, the additional time given to the development of our titles will allow them to fulfill their huge ambitions and thus offer players even more exceptional experiences.”
To pile a little more bad news on investors, Ubisoft revealed that both Rayman Legends and Splinter Cell failed to meet sales projections. Ubisoft lowered revenue expectations for the current year from $1.94 billion to $1.38 billion based on Watch Dogs and The Crew being moved to next year.
