Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed that the development costs for Assassin’s Creed Shadows exceeded €100 million, a figure that reflects the rising budgets in the video game industry.
Guillemot stated in a shareholder meeting, “We don’t disclose production costs, it did cost over 100 million euros, we’ll say that. We don’t give any final costs. We also invested heavily in the engine.” This substantial investment positions Assassin’s Creed Shadows among other high-budget AAA titles, with some games, like Concord, reportedly costing as much as $400 million.
In the same discussion, Guillemot addressed the underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws, which failed to meet Ubisoft’s sales targets. He attributed this shortfall to several factors, including the state of the Star Wars brand at the time of release and the game’s initial lack of polish. Guillemot explained, “For Star Wars Outlaws, we didn’t reach our sales targets. The game suffered from a number of items. First, it suffered from the fact that it belonged to a brand that was in a bit of choppy waters, and the game [needed polish].”
He also noted that while the game was debugged and improved in the weeks following its release, these initial challenges impacted sales volumes. Despite significant post-launch improvements, Star Wars Outlaws did not achieve its sales goals. Ubisoft plans to continue enhancing the game, with a new version anticipated for upcoming consoles, including the Switch 2, indicating ongoing commitment to the title’s future releases.
