With the announcement that the Xbox Series X and Series S are launching on November 10, Ubisoft put out some news of their own. They confirmed that they’re shifting the release date of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs: Legion up to the same day. While this is incredible for fans who are buying these consoles, or are already on Xbox, it puts any fans stuck on Sony’s systems in a very awkward position.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla launches with Xbox Series X | S on 10th November, 2020.
Build the legend of a Viking raider on any console.
Upgrade from Xbox One to Xbox Series X at no additional cost. pic.twitter.com/0IH29wpbIz— Assassin's Creed UK (@Assassins_UK) September 9, 2020
If you check now, you’ll see that all versions of the game on anything but the Xbox Series X and S launch on November 17 still. This means that anyone on these consoles has a full week of being able to play the latest Assassin’s Creed game, while everyone else has to wait. In one way, this is a great partnership with Microsoft. Ubisoft is helping them shift units, and as a result they’ll probably be looking to treat those early adopters a little better than those on other platforms.
However, there’s another side to all of this, one that I’m on. While I want to get these new Xbox consoles, I’m not sure that I’ll get them on day one. I’m also a huge Assassin’s Creed fan, but I mainly play on PlayStation 3 or 4, because I enjoy the trophy ecosystem that I’ve built up there. I’m now in the situation that if I want to play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla early, before the spoilers drop, then I need to buy a new console in order to do so.
I appreciate that Ubisoft is a business, and there’s almost certainly a deal behind the scenes that has coaxed them into doing this. Still, I expect developers to serve all of their fans, and this move doesn’t do that. What Ubisoft is doing here is putting next-gen consoles ahead of all other platforms. Unless the PlayStation 5 launches on the same day, I don’t see how the fan base won’t be split by the position that Ubisoft has put them in.
The game’s reputation has already been marred by those at Ubisoft who we won’t name here. This move now leaves a bitter taste in all PlayStation Assassin’s Creed fans, and I think that it’ll hurt it when it launches in the middle of the month, as opposed to a simultaneous launch over all platforms.