What’s going on at Ubisoft? The quarterly report reveals large gaps in the portfolio, exacerbated by the shift of avatar.
on Assassin’s Creed (odyssey, Origin, Valhalla) and Rainbow Six Siege The French publisher can rely on this: The good performance of both Ubisoft brands has contributed to the so-called net bookings of €293.3 million being slightly better than hoped.
Otherwise, the rest of the report for the 1st financial quarter (April to June) has little in store for investors, retailers, partners and employees. Because the blockbuster planned for Christmas Avatar: Frontiers of Pandara is postponed to the 2023/24 financial year – which means that the game will not be launched until April 2023 at the earliest, but in the worst case also only at the beginning of 2024. This means that the synergies generated by the James Cameron movie, which starts on December 16th, will fizzle out Avatar 2: The Way of Water would have resulted.
In the development of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandara Ubisoft Düsseldorf is also involved.
Only the switch game remains for the winter months Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope (October 20) and the Pirate Adventure Skull and Bones (8 November). In the current quarter, i.e. between July and September, with extensions for stock titles such as 1800, for honour or Rider’s Republic to reckon with. Also the guitar learning game Rocksmith+ is said to be close to release after several releases.
To the fate of games like The settlers or to Prince of PersiaThe group does not provide any information about the remake.
To reassure shareholders, Ubisoft promises that in September, as planned, the future of Assassin’s Creed should be pointed out – by this point in time at the latest, the company must score in order to maintain its reputation as a reliable hit supplier. In addition, CEO Yves Guillemot raises great expectations with regard to a large-scale mobile games cooperation based on a Ubisoft brand. The smartphone game Tom Clancy’s has already been announced and is being implemented The Division: Resurgence.
At the same time, Guillemot swears both the capital market and employees to strict cost disciplineto counter economic uncertainties. Among other things, budgets are to be frozen. Risks that are too great and potential underperformers are swept out with an iron broom: Splinter Cell VR as well as the Battle Royale project Ghost Recon Frontline and two more unannounced games have been discontinued.
Ubisoft stock has taken a beating in recent months: The price has halved since the beginning of 2021. The market capitalization is now only €5 billion, a level that makes hostile takeovers increasingly likely. For comparison: The current stock market value of the US competitor Electronic Arts (FIFA 23) is sevenfold.
Ubisoft is one of the ‘headliners’ at Gamescom 2022, which starts on August 24th at the Cologne exhibition center. So far, the publisher has not published any details about the Gamescom appearance.
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