Ghost Recon Breakpoint landed with a resounding thud: We scored it 40/100 in our review, describing it as a "tedious open-world tactical shooter" that "actively removes some features that were present in [Ghost Recon] Wildlands, while making others considerably worse." It tanked badly enough to help convince Ubisoft to pump the brakes on three upcoming releases, which in turn delivered a pretty serious knock to Ubi's share price.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said last week that despite the very rough start, the company "will continue to support the game and listen to the community in order to deliver the necessary improvements." Today, Ubisoft offered some insight into how it's going to do that.
"We can’t stress enough how much we appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts about the game. And while these first weeks have been rougher than expected, we are taking your feedback to heart," the Breakpoint team said in an update. "We deeply care about this game, the Ghost Recon franchise and you, our community of players, and are committed to improving it."
The first step, probably obviously, is fixing bugs and improving stability. Ubisoft said the next big update will arrive in mid-November, followed by another around the end of that month. New post-launch content remains in the works, including the first ever Ghost Recon raid, Project Titan, which is expected to arrive in December, and the Terminator Live Event, which will come shortly after.
The in-game economy will also be adjusted over the next few weeks, "making the experience for players more comfortable," and AI teammates are being brought back, although that's a "major undertaking" and so won't be happening right away.
But fixes and tweaks will only take a game so far, which is why Ubisoft is also committing to what sounds like a major overhaul of the whole damn game.
"We are aware that some of the design choices made have caused polarized reactions and discussions regarding the direction taken by the Ghost Recon franchise," the team wrote. "We are happy to see players embracing the new elements of the game, but we also understand that there are areas of improvements. Some of you would like our new survival mechanics to have more impact on your experience, while others dislike the tiered loot progression we have added."
"One of the key elements of our vision for Ghost Recon is to immerse our fans in a gritty and authentic military experience. In line with this vision and the feedback we received, we are working on a more radical and immersive version of Ghost Recon Breakpoint. We also want to let you tailor your experience to the way you want to enjoy the game, since freedom of choice has always been part of the Ghost Recon DNA."
That's not a great place for a big, Hollywood-guy-starring flagship game to be immediately after launch, but it's not exactly unfamiliar territory for Ubisoft either, and it actually has a pretty reliable history of making these recoveries work. For Honor was nearly the subject of a boycott not long after it came out, and The Division was enough of a mess that Ubisoft had to delay expansions so it could get some bug fixes out instead. Even Rainbow Six Siege, one of Ubisoft's biggest success stories in recent years, had to yoink around its seasonal content in order to get the game in order. I don't think any of them faceplanted off the line quite as hard as Breakpoint did , but they all needed work, and they all ended up being successes in the long run.
"We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us to get the game where you want it to be, and that not everything will be addressed or released as fast as all of you might like. Big changes can take time to make sure they are done right, but we still want to be as transparent as we can about the current state of development," Ubisoft said.
"To all of those who have jumped in and to those who are thinking about joining us – please continue to share you feedback. This is only the beginning and we look forward to the future together."
Ubisoft is also considering a new Community Survey "that will help you to express yourself about the future content and improvements of the game."
