Paris (AFP) – Struggling French video games giant Ubisoft shed light on a far-reaching reorganisation of its business Tuesday, as it reported disappointing sales in April-June. The internal rejig into a slew of autonomous units aims for “a more agile and focused organisation while ensuring necessary long-term stability and creative vision,” chief executive Yves Guillemot said in a statement.
Ubisoft reported 311 million euros ($364 million) of sales in the first quarter of its 2025-26 financial year, a fall of 3.9 percent compared with the same period last year, largely driven by technical problems with shooter game “Rainbow Six Siege.” Acknowledging “mixed results,” Guillemot nevertheless hailed the release of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows.” The latest instalment in the money-spinning franchise “delivered on its expectations, with now more than five million unique players since launch,” he said in a statement.
Sales were slightly less impacted, losing 2.9 percent, when measured using Ubisoft’s own preferred indicator of “net bookings,” which excludes some deferred revenues. The company forecast net bookings of around 450 million euros in its second financial quarter, boosted by new partnerships and revenue from TV series. For the full financial year, it confirmed objectives including stable year-on-year net bookings and “approximately break-even” operating profit. Ubisoft made a net loss of 159 million euros in 2024-25 and is in the midst of a cost-cutting plan that has seen it shut several studios outside France and slash over 2,000 jobs. Its woes reflect broader, global headwinds for the video games industry over the past two years.
Guillemot — a member of the founding family that has run Ubisoft for decades — also said the company had made “meaningful progress” on the plan to split its activities among several “creative houses,” each responsible for a different slate of games. Ubisoft has not gone into detail about the functioning of the new units or how its remaining franchises will be divided among them, promising further information about the reorganisation by October. In an email to staff last week seen by AFP, Guillemot had said the units would be “autonomous” and “completely responsible for their business objectives.”
Pressured to change by a string of disappointing releases and a slumping stock price, Ubisoft created the first such subsidiary earlier this year in a billion-euro deal with heavyweight Chinese investor Tencent. The 3,000-strong unit will control Ubisoft’s biggest franchises in “Assassin’s Creed,” “Rainbow Six,” and “Far Cry.” Ubisoft said last week that the subsidiary will be run by the CEO’s son Charlie Guillemot alongside Christophe Derennes, a veteran chief of the company’s major development studio in Montreal. “Christophe, Charlie and their teams will benefit from advice and expertise from Tencent,” one of China’s largest gaming and internet firms, Yves Guillemot said in his email to staff.
Looking ahead, Ubisoft plans to release in March a remake of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,” one of its most popular titles from two decades ago. Strategy series “Anno” will get a new episode set in ancient Rome while the company is also cooking up mobile versions of “Rainbow Six” and fellow shooter “The Division.” It warned in May, however, that several unannounced major titles were being delayed. Such news has contributed to a 28-percent slump in Ubisoft’s stock price since January. Ubisoft’s image has also been harmed by a high-profile case in which three former executives were sentenced this month for enabling a culture of sexual and psychological harassment.
© 2024 AFP
