The Ubisoft Ahead occasion opened with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, which can now be the developer’s first $70 title. 

Beforehand, Ubisoft stated that it could comply with the present value development with the discharge of its pirate recreation, Cranium & Bones. However that was final yr, when Cranium was set to come back out in November 2022. 

With a December 7 launch date so near the vacations, that value level might have an effect on its efficiency. By Ubisoft’s personal admission earlier this yr, the 2022 vacation season was a rocky interval for the corporate that resulted in three unannounced initiatives getting canceled.  

Additional complicating issues is that Frontiers of Pandora could also be even be the studio’s first digital-only product. The sport’s retailer web page on Ubisoft’s web site solely lists digital editions on PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Sequence X|S. 

At time of writing, retailers reminiscent of GameStop and Finest Purchase do not have the December 7 title listed on their web sites. 

Ought to Frontiers be a solely digital recreation, it will be the primary from Ubisoft. Again in Could, Treatment Leisure introduced its upcoming recreation, Alan Wake II, can be solely digital to keep away from an extra value hike on gamers. 

To this point, video games largely from smaller builders (learn: non double/triple-A studios) have forgone bodily releases. Bigger builders following this development will considerably change how gamers, and which gamers, are in a position to play video video games.

Video games on a scale as grand as Ubisoft’s are sometimes fairly massive by way of file dimension. So for these with restricted or spotty web connections, a strictly digital launch will hit them the toughest. 

And because the soon-to-be delisted Soul Calibur V exhibits, getting ultimately taken off digital shops will likely be a blow to recreation preservation efforts.

Ubisoft’s upcoming 2023 recreation, Murderer’s Creed Mirage, will likely be priced at $50 when it releases on October 12. It might be that Ubisoft plans to experiment with value factors relying a recreation’s dimension or what precedence it takes as a premium or mid-size title.