Summary
- Ubisoft's response to rumors about the cancelation of the Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel suggests that the game may not be in development anymore, as the company's comments did not inspire confidence in its future.
- The original report claimed that the sequel was canceled due to Ubisoft's shift towards bigger franchises like Assassin's Creed, which the company acknowledged.
- Ubisoft's reluctance to confirm the cancelation could be explained by the fact that the sequel was never officially announced, as the company typically only discusses cancelations of undisclosed projects with investors.
Ubisoft responded to a recently emerged rumor that it canceled the sequel to Immortals Fenyx Rising. And while the company avoided outright confirming that claim, its official comments do not exactly inspire confidence that another Immortals Fenyx Rising game is on the horizon.
Originally titled Gods and Monsters, Immortals Fenyx Rising launched in late 2020 to largely positive reviews and player reactions. Ubisoft Quebec was said to have soon started working on a follow-up title, with one known industry insider previously labeling that game—code-named Oxygen—as more of a spinoff than a conventional sequel. The same leaker also revealed the alleged setting of Immortals Fenyx Rising 2 in July 2022, which was the last bit of unofficial info about the project until its cancellation report emerged a year later.
Ubisoft promptly responded to the rumor that it canceled the Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel by stating that it recently shifted some creative resources and priorities at its Quebec studio. As a result of that move, a portion of Ubisoft Quebec's workforce has now moved on to "other unannounced projects," a company official told VGC. Reading between the lines, that comment seems to imply that an Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel was indeed in the works at some point. And while Ubisoft didn't offer a direct update on the project's current status, its response suggests that the game's development team has been downsized at best or disbanded at worst.
The original report on the matter claimed that the Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel was scrapped as a result of Ubisoft's strategic shift toward bigger franchises like Assassin's Creed. The developer-publisher did acknowledge that such company-wide efforts are currently taking place in its response to the rumor.
Assuming that the Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel has indeed been abandoned, Ubisoft's reluctance to confirm its cancelation could be explained by the fact that it never actually announced the follow-up to its Breath of the Wild-inspired game. Namely, the company has historically only talked about cancelations of never-revealed projects in its shareholder disclosures, not media inquiry responses. For example, Ubisoft told investors that it canceled 3 unannounced games back in January.
Whatever the fate of the Immortals Fenyx Rising sequel might be, project cancelations are nothing out of the ordinary for the France-based gaming giant. In fact, Ubisoft canceled over half a dozen games since mid-2022. The company might even scrap additional titles in the coming months, as its strategic pivot toward its largest franchises is still ongoing.
Source: VGC