Beyond Good and Evil, Mario and pirates headline strong Ubisoft E3 showcase

Blockbusters are joined by major new IP, fan favourites, VR and toys-to-life

Feature by Christopher Dring Head of Games B2B

Published on June 12, 2017

Thank goodness for Ubisoft. Every year this company delivers an eclectic mix of giant blockbusters and unique, inventive concepts that nobody else would dare try. E3 2017 was no exception, and featured one of the firm's most impressive slates yet. Here's what we saw.

Nintendo Switch

Ubisoft finally revealed Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battles at the start of its conference. It is an XCOM-style turn-based strategy game mixed with adventure elements. It's been in development for three years. It's made by Ubisoft Milan and features a score by former Rare composer Grant Kirkhope. It's out August 29th and was revealed on stage by Shigeru Miyamoto. You can find out a bit more here.
Ubisoft revealed a brand new toys-to-life concept called Starlink: Battle for Atlas. It features a toy that sits on the controller, that can be broken apart and put back together in different ways - and those changes are reflected in game. It's coming to Switch, Xbox One and PS4 for Q4 2018. Find out more here.
It wouldn't be a Ubisoft event without Just Dance. This year's game is out October on all platforms, including Switch

Skull and Bones

The big triple-A new IP reveal was pirate game Skull and Bones. It's due out Christmas 2018.
It's been created by Ubisoft Singapore, which made the pirate sections in Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and the free-to-play game Ghost Recon Phantom
It's a live multiplayer game, akin to Rainbow Six: Siege, and is a gritty pirate adventure game (unlike Sea of Thieves). It was co-developed with a group of fans. You can read more about that here.

Beyond Good and Evil 2

Despite telling us it wasn't going to be at E3, Beyond Good and Evil 2 closed the show.
The game has forgone its more family-friendly style for mature gameplay, including a whole lot of swearing.
A clearly emotional Michel Ancel (Ubisoft Montpellier) appeared on stage and thanked the fans and Yves Guillemot for allowing the game to happen. He announced a 'Space Monkey Program' for fans to help them develop the project.

Big sequels

Assassin's Creed Origins returns following its reveal during the Xbox press conference. The game will mark the tenth anniversary of the series. It's out October 27th for PS4, Xbox One and PC
Racing game The Crew 2 was also fully revealed, and now features planes, speedboats and a whole host more. Out early 2018.
Far Cry 5 featured a big new CG trailer and gameplay demo. The game is still due February 27th.

Ubisoft remains dedicated to last year's live multiplayer game Steep. Ubisoft Annecy unveiled a major update for December 5th. It is connected to the Olympics and is called 'Road To The Olympics'.

South Park

South Park: A Fractured But Whole showed up again. It is out October 17th for PS4, Xbox One and PC. It still looks great.
And there was another South Park game. For smartphones. South Park: Phone Destroyer is out this year, and is based around Cowboys and Indians.

Virtual Reality

It may not be making money, but Ubisoft continues its commitment to VR. It revealed two games - Transference and Space Junkies. The later was announced post-show.
Transference is a psychological puzzle thriller from Ubisoft's Fun House, and created in collaboration with Elijah Wood's company, SpectreVision. You can read more about the partnership here.
The second VR title was called Space Junkies, which is a 360 space FPS. The developers made the game from within virtual reality. It wasn't unveiled on stage.