Michael Pachter: Ubisoft taking down Star Wars Outlaws numbers is a case of rare incel victory

[Fenton]

Year to date, shares are down 57%, which has stirred up some activist investors to call for a sale.

The bookings’ shortfall was, technically, due to the delay and disappointing sales of Star Wars: Outlaws. However, the underlying reason for both of those, at least in part, is the far-right opposition to diversity and inclusion.

Outlaws, which has a female lead character, received mostly solid reviews from professional critics; but many players gave it a zero rating out of 10 on Metacritic, citing “forced DEI narratives” and claiming the developers “spent more time on the woke culture than on the story and gameplay.”

Some players were also unhappy with the optional season pass model that tacked an additional $40 onto the game’s price for extra missions. (The season pass/downloadable content model has been a popular one in the industry for many publishers, and is used in Fortnite and Dark Souls 3.)

That review bombing, driven by anti-DEI backlash, seemingly worked—and set off a chain of events that led to Wednesday’s announcement.

“We believe Star Wars Outlaws was impacted by a coordinated effort that sought to troll Ubisoft games specifically and Star Wars content in general,” wrote Michael Pachter of Wedbush in an analyst’s note. “This is a case of a rare incel victory that led to Ubisoft having to take down its numbers.”

In fact, the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was already under fire by that group for having a female ninja and a Black samurai as lead characters in a game set in feudal Japan, could embolden detractors. GamerGate-friendly forums on Reddit are already celebrating the announcement and taking a victory lap, with a few racist comments thrown in.

But gameplay mechanics weren’t what caused the prerelease backlash of Shadows. As far back as July, the development team has found itself on the defensive for its choice to include a Black protagonist in the game. (That character, Yasuke, is based on an actual Black samurai from the 16th century.)

https://www.fastcompany.com/91015694/dei-backlash-cynical-naive-diversity-equity-inclusion

 

[Cool hand luke]

Pachter is the Microsoftest incel, but what does he mean by "take down its numbers"?

 

[Fenton]

Pachter is the Microsoftest incel, but what does he mean by "take down its numbers"?

Ubisoft said sales numbers are not as expected.

 

[Zzero]

Pachter is the Microsoftest incel, but what does he mean by "take down its numbers"?

Metacritic score, which does effect longterm sales.

Pacter is openly open to being bribed and should fuck off but is at least partially right here. We’re winning.

 

[quest4441]

Schrodinger's incel, incels both have the power to make games bomb and are irrelevant at the same time.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

Michael The-Future-Is-Gamepass Pachter farting his mouth off over the videogame industry?

Today must be 24 hours long.

 

[Johnic]

Oh it's Pachter. I thought this was some serious info.

 

[Sircaw]

If i had a dollar for everytime this guy was right, I would be broke.

 

[Cool hand luke]

Metacritic score, which does effect longterm sales.

Pacter is openly open to being bribed and should fuck off but is at least partially right here. We’re winning.

But Ubisoft is said to have been doing the taking down

 

[Cool hand luke]

Ubisoft said sales numbers are not as expected.

And so they're lowering sales estimates?

 

[Zzero]

But Ubisoft is said to have been doing the taking down

"Take down its numbers" means lower its estimated sales for the quarter/year. Companies have to truthfully advise their shareholders how they see things going for the next year and quarter. He seems to think that the right wing cultural warriors have succeeded in hurting the game enough that Ubisoft is going to have to lower its sales estimate for the game.

 

[Landiri]

They expected 7.5 Million Sales.

Now it is 2 Million...

Star Wars IP is expensive!

 

[Airbus]

Bloodborne 7,8 million

Star Wars Outlaws 2 million

How does it feels like beaten by a niche game

 

[quest4441]

The previous estimates for ubisoft were 10 million for outlaws and 15 million for shadows by the end of the fiscal year. Now ubi will sell outlaws for 50% off during outlaws and stat pad although I do hope people dont buy it even at that discount so ubi can truly get fucked.

 

[Landiri]

10 million for outlaws and 15 million for shadows

Never ever!

 

[Vertigo]

The damage done by acolyte and Disney Wars being shit is the actual cause.

Pachter pathetic as always, continuing his 25 plus year career of never having made a single accurate prediction ever.

 

[FatKaz]

I don't know man.

They game looked pretty damn mid.

It's why I can't get into ubisoft games anymore.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Still being sold at $70. Won't touch it unless it's sold for much less.

 

[John Elden Ring]

It happend to Concord, Flintlock, Dustborne, not sure why they are even surprised

 

[Yurinka]

They expected 7.5 Million Sales.

Now it is 2 Million...

Star Wars IP is expensive!

Do you mean 7.5M unit solds of all Ubisoft games during the quarter? Or only Star Wars Outlaws in a certain period of time?

It happend to COncord, Flintlock, Dustborne, not sure why they are even surprised

Don't forget Destruction AllStars or Forspoken.