Ubisoft has outlined its plans to fix its critically panned tactical shooter Ghost Recon Breakpoint, pledging bug fixes, systems overhauls, improved in-game economy, and more.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was not, it’s fair to say, particularly well-received at launch. Eurogamer contributor Vikki Blake called it a “half-baked hotchpotch of magpie’d ideas that neither function properly nor mesh” in her review, and “a broken, swirling vortex of recycled Ubisoft mechanics stamped across a dismal, forgettable world.” No surprise then, that it ultimately earned itself Eurogamer’s dreaded Avoid badge.
In fact, Breakpoint’s critical reception and sales were disastrous enough that they were directly blamed for Ubisoft’s substantially decreased financial targets for the current fiscal year, as announced by the publisher last week.
Despite that, however, Ubisoft has pledged to improve the game, and has outlined its plan of attack in a new post on the official Ghost Recon website.
“While these first weeks have been rougher than expected,” it wrote, “we are taking your feedback to heart. We deeply care about this game, the Ghost Recon franchise and you, our community of players, and are committed to improving it.”
To that end, it will be releasing two updates focussed on technical improvements next month. The first, due in mid-November will include fixes addressing Drone deployment, changing the fire rate, NVGs blocking crosshairs, and Mission Completion notification pop-ups. A second update, scheduled for November’s end, promises “further improvements and updates on the most pressing community feedback”.
Ubisoft has also offered assurances that it’s working to address other heavily criticised areas of Breakpoint. It’s in-game economy will, for instance, be adjusted to make the experience “more comfortable” for players, whatever that might ultimately mean, and it’s also looking to give players greater choice when it comes to engaging with the game’s more ‘polarising’ design decisions, such as its new survival mechanics and tiered loot progression.
“One of the key elements of our vision for Ghost Recon is to immerse our fans in a gritty and authentic military experience,” it continued, “In line with this vision and the feedback we received, we are working on a more radical and immersive version of Ghost Recon Breakpoint”. As part of this overhaul, players will be able to tailor their experience “to the way you want to enjoy the game, since freedom of choice has always been part of the Ghost Recon DNA.”
While it’s “still too early to share details on how that will work exactly”, according to the publisher, it’s “top of mind for the team and we will keep you updated as we progress.”
Rounding off its future plans, Ubisoft confirmed that Breakpoint’s first raid, Project Titan, is due in December, with the game’s Terminator Live Event due “shortly after that”. Specific release dates, it said, will be revealed later.
Additionally, it noted that Breakpoint’s AI teammate feature, announced at this year’s E3, is still underway, but called it a “major undertaking that will still require time”.
“We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us to get the game where you want it to be,” Ubisoft’s post concluded, “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…This is only the beginning and we look forward to the future together.”
