Ubisoft delighted fans with announcements at their E3 showcase for yet another year. And while the developer confirmed prior to E3 that neither the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake or The Division were on the setlist, the presentation was filled with plenty of surprises.
The Ubisoft Forward pre-show featured the latest on For Honor, Trackmania, The Crew 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, and the TMNT crossover coming to Brawlhalla. But there were many more announcements for all of the beloved Ubisoft franchises. Here are all the highlights of the stream.
Rainbow Six Extraction
Ubisoft kicked off their presentation with debuting Rainbow Six Extraction‘s first gameplay footage.
Formerly known as Rainbow Six Quarantine, this new instalment of the Tom Clancy universe is a PvE co-op and will allow players to team up with up to two of their friends to form a squad composed of Rainbow Six Operators who have joined Ash, Mira, and Thermite to form the Rainbow Exogenous Analysis and Containment Team (REACT). As the next mainline game in the Rainbow Six franchise, Extraction will build on tactical gameplay elements introduced in Rainbow Six Siege, while also offering plenty of new features.
Players can build a squad from a roster of 18 Rainbow Six Operators to confront and contain a growing alien threat known as Archæans. Each operator comes with own set of gadgets, weapons and abilities. There’ll be 12 maps to choose from set across four regions in the United States. The maps feature procedurally generated challenges, a diverse set of enemies, and infestations with increasing difficulty the further you go in the map.
Rainbow Six Extraction is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, the Ubisoft Store on Windows PC, and Stadia on 16 September. It’ll support cross-play and cross-save across all platforms. As well as that, players who own Rainbow Six Siege and purchase Rainbow Six Extraction will be able to unlock its entire roster of 18 operators in Rainbow Six Siege, along with a United Front cosmetics bundle for both games.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
It wouldn’t be a Ubisoft presentation without any Assassin’s Creed news.
Following the success of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, the developer announced that, in a first for the series, it’s getting a second year of DLC content. But before that there’s still plenty of content on the way for Year 1, with the Ubisoft Forward presentation revealing the first gameplay footage of The Siege of Paris expansion, as well as Assassin’s Creed Valhalla‘s own Discovery Tour.
Coming this summer, The Siege of Paris expansion will introduce a new region, Francia, and recreate the titular Viking battle. The scope, however, expands beyond just Paris, as Eivor undertakes new quests and forges alliances across the French countryside. Players will also discover new weapons, gear, skills, enemy types, and abilities, including Golden Flame sticky bombs. The Siege of Paris will also re-introduce Black Box Infiltration missions to the series. The new DLC will be available as part of the Season Pass, or as a separate purchase.
Discovery Tour: Viking Age is another expansion that will be coming this fall free to all Assassin’s Creed Valhalla players. Continuing in the tradition set by Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt and Discovery Tour: Ancient Greece, the new educational expansion will turn the game into a nonviolent, interactive learning experience designed in close collaboration with historians and archeologists. Players will step in the shoes of different characters from that era and experience their daily lives while learning about the history of ninth-century Norway and England.
All that is in addition to regular free future events and updates, including the ability to wield one-handed swords in the coming weeks. Little was revealed regarding future content, aside from a single image of an otherworldly portal perched over a lava flow and covered in glowing runes.
Ubisoft Film and Television
Along with all the game content Ubisoft Forward also featured a couple of Ubisoft Film and Television announcements.
New trailers were revealed for the upcoming feature film Werewolves Within and for Season 2 of the Apple TV+ comedy Mythic Quest. The new Werewolves Within sizzle reel gave viewers a first look at a climactic scene from the horror-comedy, coming to theatres on 25 June. The new trailer for Mythic Quest showcased highlights from Season 2, which is now streaming on Apple TV+.
Far Cry 6 Season Pass
A trailer for the Far Cry 6 Season Pass exclusive content was revealed. The Season Pass will feature three DLC Episodes that will allow players to play as the major antagonists of previous games from the franchise.
Set in twisted worlds inside the minds of each character each DLC will feature locations from Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, and Far Cry 5. Players will get stronger the longer they survive by unlocking perks and finding new weapons. With each death the game will start over from scratch and players will have to use the knowledge they’ve gained to push further into the villain’s psyche. Each villain is played by their original voice actor, making the experience more memoriable.
The Far Cry 6 Season Pass also includes Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon, which will take players back to the grim cyber-future of 2007 to play as Sergeant Rex “Power” Colt. Players will even be able to bring Colt’s signature cyber-style back to the island of Yara with an array of Blood Dragon-themed items for Far Cry 6, including weapons, a vehicle, and a Robo-canine Fang for Hire named K-9000.
Far Cry 6 is lunching on 7 October on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC, Stadia, and Amazon Luna.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Four years after the release of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Ubisoft is once again partnering with Nintendo for the continuation of the Mario + Rabbids saga, unveiling a first look at Sparks of Hope.
Mario, Princess Peach, Luigi, Rabbid Mario, and Rabbid Peach are teaming up once again and they’re bringing along some new faces to take on a mysterious entity, known as Cursa, and its minions. Cursa has been plunging the galaxy into chaos, twisting the planets with its evil influence and consuming the energy of the Sparks – uncanny new characters formed by the fusion of Lumas and the Rabbids.
Along with new characters, the game will introduce a brand new combat system. Players can form a team of three Heroes from a roster of nine. However, this time battles unfold through a mixture of real-time action and turn-based tactics. The combat system is a lot more tactical than in the previous game, allowing players to move freely in a designated area and take cover, team jump on allies, or dash at enemies, all in real-time within the Hero’s turn. Sparks also play a role in combat. There are dozens of them, and each has a distinct power and ability that players can use in combat after rescuing the Sparks.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope is scheduled to be released in 2022.
Future Releases
Along with the bigger game announcements, Ubisoft also showed teaser trailers for several upcoming projects:
- Rocksmith is getting a new subscription service, Rocksmith+, that will teach users how to play acoustic and electric guitar through a vast library of their favourite songs. The feature will be available this Summer on PC and Fall on consoles.
- Extreme sports MMO Riders Republic is launching on 2 September for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Amazon Luna and Stadia.
- Rainbow Six Siege is coming to Google Stadia on 30 June, with cross-play and cross-progression features for PC, Stadia, and Amazon Luna.
- The newest game from the Just Dance franchise, Just Dance 2022 will launch on 4 November for Switch, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Stadia. Three songs were revealed from the upcoming game, one of which is a collaboration with singer and choreographer Todrick Hall.
Finally, Ubisoft ended the show with a special surprise surprise for fans- an exclusive first look at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The first person open-world RPG adventure is powered by the latest iteration of the Snowdrop engine and is coming out in 2022.
Information on all the games and features mentioned can be found here.
Watch the presentation in full below.
Words by Denitsa Gencheva
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