As Fortnite Gets Constant Updates, Ubisoft Promises More Frequent Content Drops

Ubisoft is planning to increase the pace of its content updates for its upcoming slate of games. Asked if content drops are rapid enough to compete with Fortnite during an investor Q&A, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company is ramping up its efforts. He specifically named Rainbow Six Siege and the upcoming Ghost Recon Breakpoint as examples, but signaled this is a broader strategy going forward.

“It is something we have been working on in the last 24 months. Our teams are getting organized to come more regularly with content and lots of our games are going to come with drops of content and events on a more regular basis,” Guillemot said. “Rainbow Six is increasing its content drop speed a lot already and you will see that this year. Ghost Recon Breakpoint will see content drops on a regular basis because they will also have the PVP, the co-op, and the campaign.

“So you can expect all the products, and not only Rainbow Six, having content drops regularly. It’s the new trend now in the industry and those drops are making lots of people come back to the games and also spend money in them.”

Guillemot didn’t go into further detail, but that may be that some of Ubisoft’s release plans are still under wraps. The financial statements and investor call also revealed three more triple-A games are in development, all releasing by March 31, 2020. Those are said to represent a broad range of game types, as Ubisoft said they’re each “unique experiences.” Ubisoft also announced that its pirate ship combat game, Skull and Bones, is delayed past the March of 2020 and won’t be shown at E3.

Rainbow Six Siege is known for making a dramatic turnaround with live content after a somewhat rocky launch. Ghost Recon Breakpoint appears to be adopting the strategy of regular content updates as well, after Wildlands continued introducing special episodes long after launch. Even single-player games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey have become notable for their wealth of post-launch content.

Ubisoft has been shifting towards a live game model for some time, and Guillemot’s comments didn’t necessarily commit to updating with the frequency of Fortnite. The studio behind Apex Legends, a battle royale competitor with Fortnite, has explicitly stated it isn’t aiming for weekly content drops to maintain a healthy studio culture. It isn’t clear exactly how frequent Ubisoft intends to update its games, but it will be some degree more than the current pace of Siege.