Ubisoft, the French game publisher behind the award-winning video game series Assassin's Creed, is now officially out of E3 2023. The fans have been expecting Ubisoft to take the spotlight, following the previous announcements from big companies that they won't appear at the upcoming expo. Instead, Ubisoft will have its own trade event at around the same time as the E3.
Ubisoft Taking a 'Different Direction' as It Skips E3 2023
As reported by Kotaku, Ubisoft's recent announcement is a reversal from its confirmation last month that it would attend E3 2023. This will be the fourth year in a row that the video game company won't be presenting at the annual trade show. To note, the last E3 appearance of Ubisoft was in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the E3 events from 2020 to 2022 had to be cancelled.
Ubisoft made the announcement of skipping E3 this year in a statement released to VGC, citing the company's need to take a "different direction" by hosting its own live event in June.
"While we initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we've made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction, and will be holding a Ubisoft Forward Live event on 12th June in Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon," Ubisoft's spokesperson said in a statement.
With this, Ubisoft is now included in the long list of big names that won't attend the E3, much to the fans' dismay as the E3 stage has always been the venue for showcasing much-awaited game titles of the year. The anticipation for E3 2023 has also grown since the 2020 cancellation.
Nonetheless, the fans have something to look forward to but this time around, they will have to tune in to separate trade events instead of one. The first company to announce its E3 absence is Nintendo, followed by Microsoft earlier this month. With Ubisoft having its Forward live event to showcase its upcoming games, E3 2023 is now left with Sony to grace its show floor. However, Engadget said that Sony is likely to be a no-show as well, given its E3 attendance record.
What to Expect From Ubisoft Forward Live Event 2023
Ubisoft has shared a long history with E3 when it comes to showcasing its upcoming video games. However, the most notable Ubisoft game to be unveiled in the event is Assassin's Creed. The first game in the series was first revealed in 2006. Since then, it has been a tradition for Ubisoft to tease the Assassin Creed game sequels and spin-offs on the E3 stage. The full gameplay of Assassin's Creed 2 was presented at E3 2009, revealing the storyline, characters, and improvements over the first title, according to Game Rant.
Even if Ubisoft will skip the E3 this year, fans can expect that the game publisher's Forward live event will be similar to the previous E3 presentations, particularly with anything related to Assassin's Creed.
The latest title in the series, Assassin's Creed Mirage, is confirmed to arrive soon, that is why the fans should expect the Forward live event to showcase the game. While there is no confirmation yet, the event could show the full gameplay demo, just like what had been done in previous E3 events.
