There is what Ubisoft has stalled with the franchise, but in the meantime we also hear that the French publisher does not want to neglect the IP that was last seen two console generations ago…
Ubisoft has confirmed that the planned live-action series of Driver will not happen. We may not remember much about it now, as in 2021 the Yves Guillemot-led company announced that it had teamed up with upstart streaming service Binge to make the series a reality… but on Friday, Ubisoft confirmed to Game File that the project has been canceled. It may have had potential.
Driver’s previous game, Driver: San Francisco, was released in September 2011 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC and Nintendo Wii. It’s no coincidence that the title refers to a coma, as the main character, Tanner, has fallen into a coma and the story takes place inside his head. This gave the game a slightly otherworldly feel and style, while also being a prequel to the first part of Driver. So it’s been 13 years, and we’ve gone through two console generations since then, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that Ubisoft won’t be doing much more with this IP… but you’d be wrong!
Ubisoft added: “We are actively working on other exciting projects related to the franchise and can’t wait to share more information in the future”. So maybe there will be a new Driver, and if it’s not a flop like Driv3r (it was a staggering drop from the first two installments; Driver: Parallel Lines was much better after that), we’ll be fine.
Meanwhile, Ubisoft is adapting another IP. A few days ago, the company announced that Watch Dogs will be made into a movie. The cast includes Sophie Wilde (Talk to Me) and Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes), and the director will be Matheu Turi. And after Watch Dogs: Legion, it didn’t look like the publisher had any plans for this IP in the short term…
Leave a Reply