Topic: Unreleased, Finished Wii U Game from Ubisoft Revealed

[NWR_Neal]

Ubisoft has been holding back a finished Wii U game for over a year. It's a party game called Know Your Friends.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/39611/unreleased-finished-wii-u-game-from-ubisoft-revealed

Know Your Friends is a Wii U party game from Ubisoft that has been finished for an entire year according to Unseen 64. There are no current plans for it to come out as far as we know, though.

At E3 2014, Ubisoft's Yves Gullemot said that there was a finished Wii U game that Ubisoft was purposefully withholding from release. Know Your Friends is that game. It was developed by Ubisoft Montreal over the course of 2013, wrapping development in early 2014. When it was finished, Ubisoft withheld from releasing it due to the lagging sales of their past Wii U games and the system itself.

Know Your Friends is a quirky party/quiz game that features local and online multiplayer. The Wii U exclusive was focused on using the GamePad in interesting ways, mostly playing on social interactions. One question, according to Unseen 64, has each player arrange one another on the GamePad based on who is most likely to invite the others over for dinner.

It features a goofy papercraft art style that is akin to Monty Python's Flying Circus. Each player is represented by a 2D papercraft person that, thanks to the GamePad's camera, has their face mapped to the in-game character.

Know Your Friends could still come out on Wii U, especially since it is a completely finished game complete with an ESRB rating that just hasn't been released. It's unknown, however, if Ubisoft will release this, or any other game for that matter, on Wii U. The company's last Wii U release was Watch Dogs last November. They have no currently scheduled games set for a future release on Wii U.

[Phil]

Wow! It even has the token black friend! Awesome!

[fred13]

If the game is finished and it has an ESRB rating, how much does it cost to just slap it on the eShop? I can't imagine them not releasing it at some point as there's basically no further investment required (as far as I understand) I'm guessing they're just waiting for the install base to get a little larger or maybe they're waiting for the next big gap in the release schedule so that they won't have any competition.

[Stratos]

Quality 3rd party software. At least we can rest easy knowing it wasn't an Assassins Creed or Prince of Persia HD collection.

[Phil]

If the game is finished and it has an ESRB rating, how much does it cost to just slap it on the eShop? I can't imagine them not releasing it at some point as there's basically no further investment required (as far as I understand) I'm guessing they're just waiting for the install base to get a little larger or maybe they're waiting for the next big gap in the release schedule so that they won't have any competition.

You're suggesting that the publisher that delayed Rayman Legends from a February date to a jam-packed September date and released a Wii U port of Watch Dogs in November would wait for the next big gap in the release schedule so that they won't have any competition?

[Soren]

Nothing of value is being lost.

I'd rather play Grow Home, but not even Ubisoft cares enough about that game either. So, meh.

[Khushrenada]

I think there are more reasons as to why this wasn't released beyond just Wii U console sales....

[UncleBob]

Wii U sales so bad that even UBISoft refuses to release their shovelware for the system?

[Khushrenada]

I'd like to think that, for once, even Ubisoft was ashamed of the shovelware they had created and couldn't bring themselves to release another stinker on the market but blamed Wii U sales to shift the blame of the product's obvious failure off themselves to feel a bit better.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Wii U sales so bad that even UBISoft refuses to release their shovelware for the system?

in digital, non physical form too....
almost no overhead to release on eshop since the game is done, and it still isn't worth the cost/risk.
that's damn sad.

[Soren]

I'd like to think that, for once, even Ubisoft was ashamed of the shovelware they had created and couldn't bring themselves to release another stinker on the market but blamed Wii U sales to shift the blame of the product's obvious failure off themselves to feel a bit better.

Agreed. Even an eShop release means that because of the empty release schedule the game would get too much attention, highlighting what a horrible piece of crap it probably is.

[ejamer]

Not having games released is never good... but this isn't something I would have even considered purchasing.  You feel bad for the developers though, to have a finished product that will never see light of day.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'd like to think that, for once, even Ubisoft was ashamed of the shovelware they had created and couldn't bring themselves to release another stinker on the market but blamed Wii U sales to shift the blame of the product's obvious failure off themselves to feel a bit better.

I'd like to think that, for once, even Ubisoft was ashamed of the shovelware they had created and couldn't bring themselves to release another stinker on the market but blamed Wii U sales to shift the blame of the product's obvious failure off themselves to feel a bit better.

Agreed. Even an eShop release means that because of the empty release schedule the game would get too much attention, highlighting what a horrible piece of crap it probably is.

yes. that is certainly one hell of a way to spin it.
I can get aboard that train.

[Mop it up]

This is the game that would have saved the Wii U.

[Shaymin]

So we know the Ubisoft quality matrix:

We Dare
Assassin's Creed Unity
---here be cancelled---
.
.
.
.
.
.
Know Your Friends

[WaTanooki]

Are these kind of party games still relevant?

[Stratos]

Only in the category of "quality unreleased content" and the "3rd party wall of shame".

[Stogi]

Kairon would buy it.