Ubisoft Drops Support for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

Ubisoft have become one of the first major publishers to drop its support for last gen hardware.

Speaking after the reveal of Assassins Creed Syndicate, Ubisoft said it will only support Just Dance on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 going forwards and no new IP’s will be released on those platforms.

“On Just Dance, we will continue to bring old-gen console versions, but on the other products like Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, The Division, and the unannounced franchise, we will not have old-gen versions”  – Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

You can still get your groove on for PS3 and Xbox 360

Ubisoft has Assassins Creed Syndicate & Rainbow Six: Siege coming to PS4 and Xbox One later this year, with The Division planed for an early 2016 release. Ubisoft are also looking to launch a new IP early next year that Guillemot refereed to as a “franchise”, details on which are still unknown. Assassins Creed Syndicate, Rainbow Six and The Division are all making their way onto PC, but if they will be on Wii U is still unclear.

So why have Ubisoft taken the plunge into next-gen only now? A chart released showing Ubisoft’s sales on next-gen and last gen from last year’s 4th quarter and 2013’s 4th quarter show a massive boom in sales on PS4 & Xbox One, and a massive drop in sales on PS3 & Xbox 360. The 2013/2014 4th quarter shows a combined sales of 20% on PS4 & Xbox one compared with 2014/2015’s 4th quarter which made up 42% of Ubisoft’s sales.

With Ubisoft taking the plunge and reports showing EA’s Star Wars Battlefront only being on PS4, Xbox One & PC, have Ubisoft set the mark for other publishers to follow, or will other publishers push for every platform still? And will the quality of games improve further by just focusing on the current generation? Let us know in the comments what you think. 

Phil Sinclair