Ubisoft MMO racer The Crew delayed into summer 2014

Ubisoft has delayed its open-world racing MMO The Crew to summer 2014. The PC, PS4, and Xbox One title was previously anticipated to release early next year.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the delay of both The Crew and Watch Dogs, which is now slated for spring 2014 instead of November 2013, is meant to help the publisher "win the next generation."

"The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance," Guillemot said in a statement. "We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders.

"We are building franchises that will become perennial pillars of Ubisoft’s financial performance. In a context of growing successes for mega-blockbusters, the additional time given to the development of our titles will allow them to fulfill their huge ambitions and thus offer players even more exceptional experiences."

The delays significantly reduced Ubisoft's forecasted sales for the year: it's now targeting between €995 million ($1.34 billion) and €1.05 billion ($1.41 billion) in sales for its 2013-14 fiscal year, down from between €1.42 billion ($1.92 billion) and €1.45 billion ($1.96 billion).