Weekend Highlights (July 19-20)

Ubisoft stated that microtransactions make games more fun, the budget for Assassin’s Creed Shadows exceeded $100 million, and Rematch’s player base reached 5 million players—here’s a rundown of the main events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.

• Recently, Ubisoft published a 380-page annual report detailing its business operations. One intriguing point in the document concerns the addition of microtransactions in its games. The company noted that the ability to make in-game purchases (such as for expedited character leveling or customization) "makes gameplay more fun," even for paid projects. However, they also emphasized that microtransactions remain an optional feature in their games. Furthermore, when developing paid titles, Ubisoft adheres to the "golden rule"—allowing gamers to fully enjoy the game without spending extra money.
• Ubisoft also held a shareholders meeting, during which it partially revealed the budget for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. CEO Yves Guillemot stated that the development and promotion of the game cost "more than $100 million." Exactly how much more, he did not specify. Additionally, at the same meeting, Guillemot claimed that one of the reasons for the less-than-stellar sales of Star Wars: Outlaws was the diminished popularity of the Star Wars franchise.
• During its quarterly earnings call, Netflix reiterated its intention to increase investments in gaming. It reminded investors that its current investment in gaming content is small compared to those in films and series. Despite its interest in the segment, the company wants to proceed cautiously and not invest too heavily in games until it is confident the subscribers will appreciate it. Nevertheless, Netflix already has some successes to boast about. According to the company, the successful release of Squid Game: Unleashed and GTA series games on the service indicates they are on the right track.
• Studio Sloclap announced that more than 5 million people played the football action game Rematch in its debut month. This figure includes both the game’s purchasers and Game Pass subscribers.
• The shooter Ready or Not took less than four days to sell one million copies on consoles, as reported on LinkedIn by Julio Rodriguez, CEO of Void Interactive. The developer added that the PC version took 36 days to achieve the same milestone. He did not disclose the total sales across all platforms.