When it comes to the big tentpole releases, when we hear about “underperforming,” it usually means something like instead of selling 20 million copies, something sold 18 million copies. But it seems in the case of Ghost Recon Breakpoint, the failure of the game was much more impactful. We know the game apparently was “significantly” below expectations, but it seems that may even be an understatement since he game’s performance caused shockwaves behind the scenes.
In the latest episode of Kotaku Splitscreen podcast, renowned journalist Jason Schreier said that he had heard the game’s performance has made Ubisoft switch gears in how they’ve been handling development and pitching for new titles, saying it’s now a chaotic time behind the scenes at the company.
“Conversations I’ve had with people are “Now Ubisoft is changing their mentality big time.” Now it’s all about [how] you have to pitch your game as being super unique, having some unique aspect to it. It all sounds really wild. It’s this really crazy atmosphere.”
While we don’t have any numbers on Breakpoint as of now, it seems that the game must’ve done very poorly to prompt such major shifts, as well as delays of major titles in 2020. Ubisoft has committed to supporting the game for the long haul despite all of this, and they have turned around troubled games in the past, but it’s interesting to think how one game can derail an entire company’s plans.