While theSkull and Bonespirate game is often seen as Ubisoft’s oft-delayed troubled project, it’s not the only one.Roller Champions, Ubisoft’s 3v3 multiplayer roller derby game, was announced in 2019 and has struggled to come together in the years since. While there were indications thatRoller Championswould be arriving soon to start off 2022, it seems there’s one last delay in store beforeUbisoftwill be ready to deliver it.Roller Champions' launch has been pushed back once more, hopefully for the last time.In an announcement that wasn’t shared widely, Ubisoft reportedly told the Discord community forRoller Championsthat it wouldn’t arrive before March 31 as previously announced. Instead,Roller Championsis being targeted as a late spring release, which likely means it’ll be targeting June.AnotherRoller Championsdelayisn’t impossible, of course, given the project’s struggles up to this point. At that point, however, it becomes more of a question of if, not when.RELATED:Ubisoft Claims Skull and Bones Will Launch By April 2023Ubisoft did provide a very general reason for the delay. It describes the situation asRoller Championsneeding more time to deliver a “successful game” that can “properly honor” the excitement fans have for the project. It’s referring to players who have participated in the game’s past tests, which include apre-alpha demo released in 2019and a 2021 beta test.
Given the lack of specificity in the explanation for the delay, there’s a lot of room to speculate. It’s possible that feedback from the beta is being addressed, or simply that the game isn’t as polished as the development team would like. It’s also possible that Ubisoft would rather launchRoller Championsafter a lengthy marketing campaign, or during a release window that’s less crowded with popular games. June does seem like a more opportune release window with those issues in mind.
What is clear is thatRoller Champions, regardless of what Ubisoft says about its following, does not have much excitement built up around its release. In many ways, it hearkens back to the launch of Ubisoft’sbattle royaleHyper Scape, which struggled to build an initial audience.
Theonline multiplayer live-service gameenvironment is incredibly saturated, with dozens of games vying for players' attention.Roller Championsis going to have to be its best self when it does eventually launch, whether that’s in the late spring or beyond. Here’s hoping that the development team at Ubisoft is able to put together something special with the time it’s taking.
Roller Championsreleases late spring on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
