Europe games industry on edge as ‘Assassin’s Creed’ hits shelves

Europe games industry on edge as ‘Assassin’s Creed’ hits shelves
The Korean edition packages of "Assassin's Creed Shadows" for PlayStation 5 are displayed for sale at video game shop Hanwoori in Seoul on March 20, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 21 March 2025
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Europe games industry on edge as ‘Assassin’s Creed’ hits shelves

Europe games industry on edge as ‘Assassin’s Creed’ hits shelves

PARIS: Thursday’s release of action-adventure epic “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” marks a make-or-break moment not just for struggling French games heavyweight Ubisoft, but for the entire European gaming ecosystem.

With its almost 18,000 employees and global footprint, Ubisoft has nevertheless suffered one setback after another in recent years with disappointing releases, a dwindling stock price, harassment allegations against former bosses and repeated strikes.

The company is falling back on its longtime major money-spinner “Assassin’s Creed” to pull it from the doldrums, this time with an episode set in medieval Japan.

“I’ve never seen things this way” as the whole European industry looks to Ubisoft, Midcap Partners analyst Charles-Louis Planade told AFP ahead of the launch.

More than 17 Ubisoft studios employing hundreds have poured five years of work into “Shadows,” with an estimated budget running into hundreds of millions of euros.

Early reviews have been positive, with the game receiving a “generally favorable” score of 81/100 on review aggregation site Metacritic.

That was one point higher than “Valhalla,” the 2020 release that has so far been the high point of the series’ profitability.

The latest instalment “looks better and plays better than nearly any other entry in Ubisoft’s 18-year-old series,” American games journalist Stephen Totilo wrote on his website Game File.

Meanwhile, gaming site IGN’s review of “Shadows” said it “sharpens and refines (the series’) edge without fully reforging it.”

“Shadows” was partly developed at Ubisoft’s studio in Quebec City, Canada.

The artistic director of Ubisoft-Quebec, Thierry Dansereau, told AFP at a launch event in the city that the company’s “developers did everything they could to create the best game possible.”

A lack of major changes to the game’s mechanics could risk “leaving some players worn out,” said Julien Pillot, an economist specializing in the cultural industries.

He suggested that Ubisoft’s recent underwhelming releases “may be a sign that audiences are falling out of love with its games.”

Nevertheless, Planade said that “everyone is crossing their fingers for this release to be a huge success.”

He said a poor sales showing could provoke a knock-on effect across the entire industry, noting that in France alone, Ubisoft accounts for almost one-third of the country’s 15,000 jobs in games development

In a social media post, Ubisoft said the release appeared to be a success.

“It’s not even 4PM here in Canada and Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already passed 1 million players!” the company said on X.

Many budding creators pass through Ubisoft after completing their training, while former employees have founded new studios in France and around the world.

The company in 2023 launched a cost-cutting drive including studio closures and almost 2,000 layoffs.

The belt-tightening did not save Ubisoft from judgment on financial markets, with the stock falling from more than 100 euros ($109 at today’s rates) 10 years ago to its all-time low of 9.01 euros in September.

Ubisoft shares had fallen almost 5.6 percent on Wednesday to trade at 12.60 euros by the time markets closed, despite the good early reviews for “Shadows.”

Even before release of the hoped-for blockbuster, Ubisoft said it was “actively exploring various strategic and capitalistic options” for its future.

Early rumors suggested that could involve going private with help from Chinese tech giant Tencent, a major investor that holds 10 percent of Ubisoft.

More recently, multiple outlets have reported that the group could sell off much of its games catalogue to focus on its core titles.

“Every option is on the table” for Ubisoft’s future, Planade said, with commercial success for “Shadows” likely to strengthen Ubisoft’s hand in the negotiations.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Wildlife of the Eastern Caribbean’

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Updated 4 min 53 sec ago
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Wildlife of the Eastern Caribbean’

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  • Around 30 percent of all the species included are endemic to the region

Author: STEVE HOLLIDAY AND GILL HOLLIDAY

This is the first photographic field identification guide to Eastern Caribbean birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, land crabs, dragonflies, and butterflies.

Beautiful and easy-to-use, the guide covers 17 island groups stretching from the Virgin Islands south through the Lesser Antilles, from Anguilla to Grenada, where a unique range of flora and fauna evolved in relative isolation.

Around 30 percent of all the species included are endemic to the region.

 

 

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘African Modernism’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘African Modernism’
Updated 30 June 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘African Modernism’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘African Modernism’

Edited by: Manuel Herz

The late 1950s and early 1960s saw a large number of central and sub-Saharan African countries gaining independence, and one of the key ways in which they expressed their newly established national identity was through distinctive architecture.

Parliament buildings, stadiums, universities, central banks, convention halls, and other major public buildings and housing projects were built in daring, even heroic designs.

“African Modernism” takes a close look at the relationship between these cutting-edge architectural projects, according to a review on goodreads.com. The book will be of interest to historians of architecture and students alike.


What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Leaf Unturned’: Short story collection explores questions of identity, social constraint

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Updated 30 June 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘A Leaf Unturned’: Short story collection explores questions of identity, social constraint

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  • “Saifi is an accomplished writer with a deep understanding of the human condition, particularly when it comes to themes of desire, identity, and societal constraint

Author: Shamim Saifi

“A Leaf Unturned” is the English translation of a collection of short stories originally written in Urdu by Shamim Saifi, one of India’s leading short story writers.

The stories were originally published by Bihar Urdu Academy under the title “Ek Warq,” and have been translated by Syed Sarwar Hussain, a professor of English at Riyadh’s King Saud University who has translated several books of renowned Indian and Pakistani writers.

Shamim Saifi.

Saifi, who died in 1994 while serving as a High Court judge, demonstrates a deep understanding of the human psyche, particularly in relation to themes of identity, and the struggles of individuals living on the margins of society.

The collection contains 12 short stories, each with a different flavor of writing, but all rich in symbolism and often with a stream-of-consciousness pattern that allows readers to follow each character’s inner thought process.

The stories offer a distinctive kaleidoscope of Joycean surrealism, Kafkaesque existentialism, and Faulknerian symbolism.

Sarwar Hussain writes in his introduction: “Shamim Saifi’s work is marked by its ability to evoke strong emotional responses and its keen insight into the complex intersections between personal desire, societal expectations, and existential crises.

“Saifi is an accomplished writer with a deep understanding of the human condition, particularly when it comes to themes of desire, identity, and societal constraint. His writing is rich in symbolism and emotional resonance, making him a writer whose work invites introspection and reflection.”

The book is available on Amazon.in and Kindle.

 


What We Are Reading Today: ‘Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Crickets of the World’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Crickets of the World’
Updated 29 June 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: ‘Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Crickets of the World’

What We Are Reading Today: ‘Grasshoppers, Locusts, and Crickets of the World’

Edited by Martin Husemann and Oliver Hawlitschek

Grasshoppers, locusts, crickets, bush crickets, and katydids make up the order of insects known as Orthoptera.

Although there about 30,000 species of Orthoptera around the world, many people pay little attention to them and even scientists know relatively little about them.

Yet the world of grasshoppers is a fascinating and diverse one.


What We Are Reading Today: The Ticos

What We Are Reading Today: The Ticos
Updated 28 June 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: The Ticos

What We Are Reading Today: The Ticos

Authors: Mavis Hiltunen Biesanz, Richard Biesanz

Written with the perspective of more than half a century of first-hand observation, this unparalleled social and cultural history describes how Costa Rica’s economy, government, education and health-care systems, family structures, religion, and other institutions have evolved, and how this evolution has affected and reflected people’s daily lives, beliefs, and their values. 

The authors are particularly concerned with change since the economic crisis of the early 1980s and the structural adjustment that followed.

The book provides a comprehensive introduction to a country the writers know well, according to a review on goodreads.com.