Unofficial E3 season is almost over but we’re kicking on for one more blast of trailers and special looks as Ubisoft Forward rolls around once more. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen events from PlayStation, Meta Quest, Summer Game Fest, Devolver Digital, and Xbox to name just a few. Today it’s the open-world-over-lords turn to impress with looks at its shiny new Star Wars game, an update on that Avatar (the blue ones) project, a deep dive into the expanding world of The Crew and more!
Here are all the announcements from Ubisoft Forward 2023:
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora
Kicking things off is our first real look at the new Avatar game, Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, introduced by old mate James Cameron himself! In the trailer, we witness the journey of the playable character, a human who has been in hibernation on Pandora for fifteen-odd years and is awoken to defend their new home in their new Na’vi body. The game is a first-person action title that is promising to recapture the film magic in a new region of the planet, the Western Frontier. An array of flora and fauna from the films is shown off, as well as some combat against an invading human force that you’ll take on in either single-player or co-op. The game is set to release on December 7 2023.
XDEFIANT Open Sessions
Ahead of XDEFIANT‘s release later this year, Ubisoft is opening the doors on the game for an open stress test for players to check out. There’s also a year-one roadmap of gameplay content planned for the game so if you get into it, you’ll have plenty to check out, more details here.
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown
A fun little surprise from the past week, Prince of Persia The Lost Crown is a stylised new 2D platformer action title in the style of the series’ roots. In it, you’ll be playing as an elite warrior, an Immortal. who is set loose in a semi-open-world experience that requires sharp combat and exploration skills to traverse. Time powers are back too! Both you and your enemies can manipulate time to great effect. The game is set to release on January 18, 2024 on all platforms.
Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix
Described as a “love letter to the 90s”, Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is Ubisoft’s first anime series. BobbyPill Studio has animated this Netflix series, which is a hyper-stylised and violent show about…Ubisoft characters? One of those things you need to see to understand – the show drops later this year.
The Division Resurgence
A fully-fledged Division experience coming to mobile phones, The Division Resurgence has a brand new, oddly perky trailer that shows off a civil war-torn USA.
The Crew Motorfest
Ubisoft’s open-world racing franchise The Crew is getting a glowup in the form of The Crew Motorfest. This latest entry in the series will take players to an expansive Hawaiian racing event dubbed the Motorfest in which you can race through a variety of Playlist events that celebrate the history of racing. Players can import their garage from The Crew 2 when the game launches September 14 2023 on PC and console.
Assassin’s Creed Nexus
Ever wondered what it would be like to play a fully immersive, Assassin’s Creed experience? Nexus is here to answer that question, for a price. Coming to MetaQuest, this impressive new VR game will put you in the shoes of three iconic assassins across history in first-person gameplay. Nexus is promising parkour, combat, exploration and more when it launches later this year.
Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade
Ubisoft pulling out all the stops on mobile today with a new look at Assassin’s Creed Codename Jade, a full-blown open-world Assassin’s Creed set third century BC China. If you’re interested, you can sign up now for the Closed Beta later this year over at: www.assassinscreedcodenamejade.com
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
Looking to its past for future inspiration, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is Ubisoft’s attempt to bring the franchise back to its stealth-orientated roots. A gorgeous, open recreation of golden age Baghdad, Mirage will take you back to one of the earlier points of the Hidden Ones’ history and question the morality and role they play in the world through Basim’s story when the game launches on October 12, 2023.
Star Wars: Outlaws
The big one, Ubisoft is headed to that galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: Outlaws. Today we got our first look at gameplay for the open-world, narrative-drive action experience that sees players fill the shoes of a wannabe smuggler Kay Vess, proving her worth against the backdrop of the Imperial Empire. Ubisoft is promising a variety of planets for players to explore in this third-person adventure that seems to be riffing on the legacy of Ubisoft action stealth gameplay with some exciting new things thrown in for good measure.
It certainly looks ambitious, with its vast open worlds, dialogue options, surface to space ship traversal and combat, lightspeed jumping and about a dozen other things seen in the gameplay below. The game is slated for release sometime in 2024.
Content Updates
A smattering of smaller announcements were also to be found throughout the showcase. Skull and Bones is getting a closed beta in late August. Roller Champions is getting some sick-looking Jet Set Radio content. Skateboarding is coming to Riders Republic. Iconic Ubisoft gangly creature Rayman is coming to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, alongside a new explorable planet is two seperate DLC updates. And The Crew 2 is recieving its sunsetting update later this year ahead of Motorfest.
And that’s all, folks! What did you think of Ubisoft Forward 2023? Be sure to let us know in the comments below and on social media.
One part pretentious academic and one part goofy dickhead, James is often found defending strange games and frowning at the popular ones, but he's happy to play just about everything in between. An unbridled love for FromSoftware's pantheon, a keen eye for vibes first experiences, and an insistence on the Oxford comma have marked his time in the industry.
