French company Ubisoft is one of the biggest video game publishers in the world, and employs thousands of people. It’s one of the largest video game companies out there, known to millions of gamers worldwide thanks to its world-conquering video game franchises.
It’s clear though, that both Ubisoft games and the company itself have been controversial. Assassin’s Creed Unity’s botched launch in 2014 left a sour taste in the mouth of Ubisoft fans worldwide, while allegations of the company having a toxic workplace in the summer of 2020, and more recent comments by its CEO about the game making process might have harmed the company somewhat.
Gamers were also annoyed by the fact that the company had seemingly rebuffed Steam after Ubisoft said that The Division 2 would launch on the Epic Games Store and its own online store only back in 2019.
It seemed that future Ubisoft games would not be seeing a release on the Steam store again, although Ubisoft recently had a change of heart and will now be bringing Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and other Ubisoft games to Steam in the near future.
“We’re constantly evaluating how to bring our games to different audiences wherever they are, while providing a consistent player ecosystem through Ubisoft Connect”, Ubisoft told Eurogamer (via Engadget).
The company also said which Ubisoft games would be hitting Valve’s platform first. “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Anno 1800 and Roller Champions are among the Ubisoft titles that will be releasing on Steam”, said Ubisoft.
And bloody Viking adventure Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be the first of these titles to arrive on Steam, launching on December 6 on Valve’s platform. Interestingly enough this is date on which Ubisoft will release a free epilogue for the game, putting an end to Valhalla’s substantial story. Valhalla had also gotten two (paid) expansions, The Siege of Paris and the pretty big Dawn of Ragnarok expansion previously.
The other two games headed to Steam, strategy title Anno 1800 and the multiplayer game Roller Champions have not gotten release dates on Steam yet.
Ubisoft’s about-face regarding Steam remains a bit of a mystery though – it’s clear it had previously shunned the Steam store in order to avoid paying a cut of its game’s profit to Valve – but maybe the increased exposure and sales it gets by being on Steam makes it worth it to the French powerhouse now.
Either way, it’s definitely good news for fans of Ubisoft games (and gamers in general too) that games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be on Steam again, which is still running its autumn sale. Regarding future Ubisoft games, we should also expect to see the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Mirage on Steam too, coming sometime in 2023.