Ubisoft Entertainment SA reported first-quarter bookings in line with analysts expectations but also announced it would postpone its Avatar game, as the French video game studio works to overcome a post-pandemic production crunch.

The publisher behind the Assassin’s Creed franchise is “adapting” its organisation “to current economic uncertainties through cost optimisation”, chief executive officer Yves Guillemot said in a statement on July 21. “We continue to work on the richest pipeline in the company’s history.”

The game Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora, based on the movie franchise in partnership with Disney, was expected to be released this year but is now delayed until at least 2023.

Still, Ubisoft said it will release Mario + Rabbids: Sparks Of Hope, developed in partnership with Nintendo, on Oct 20. Skull And Bones, which has been hit by a number of development delays since its announcement in 2017, is also set for release Nov 8.

 - Bloomberg