Ubisoft Revenue, Net Bookings Decline 31% – Push Square

GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpPush SquareGuestLogin or Sign UpThese are not happy numbersAll eyes are on Ubisoft, one of the biggest publishers in the industry, as it finds itself in something of a fiscal pickle. The French firm has released its financial results for the nine months ending 31st December 2024, and they don’t paint a pretty picture. Now more than ever, Ubisoft seems to be counting on the imminent next Assassin’s Creed instalment, Shadows, to right the ship. Recently, the company reported that pre-orders were in line with Odyssey, the second-most successful entry in the series.GamesIndustry.biz dove into the numbers, emerging with data that suggests a somewhat tricky year for the firm. Overall, revenue was down some 31.4% year-on-year (€990 million), and net bookings (the total value of contracts signed) were down 34.8% (€944 million). Further, back-catalogue net bookings, a significant source of income for a storied publisher like Ubisoft, were down 27.7% (€762 million).Despite it all, Ubisoft remains positive (companies must put on a brave face for shareholders), optimistic that the net booking situation will improve once Assassin’s Creed Shadows arrives on 20th March. It’s anecdotal, of course, but we can’t recall a situation where so much was seemingly riding on a single release. Ubisoft stock is currently going for €11.32 per share (bargain!), down an astonishing 52% from February 2024.”Together, we will be unstoppable”Could’ve been worse, thoughYear 6 content goes darkWhat do you think the future holds for Ubisoft? Even if Assassin’s Creed Shadows comes out to rave reviews, and sells as well as Valhalla did, do you think it will be enough? Let us know in the comments section below.[source gamesindustry.biz]About Khayl AdamKhayl Adam is Push Square’s roving Australian correspondent, a reporter tasked with scouring the internet for the richest, most succulent PlayStation stories. With six years of experience as a freelance journalist and mercenary wordsmith, RPGs are his first great love, but strategy and tactics games are a close second, genres in which he is only too happy to specialize.Comments 45You can please some of the people all of the time. All of the people some of the time. You can’t please all of the people all of the time. Who you choose to please with your games will determine how many games you sell.Yikes. If Shadows fails, itll be super uglyFeels like everything is riding on Shadows. It’ll probably do well commercially but I wonder if it’ll be enough. I just want to see Sam Fisher make a return, pls UbisoftI am proud to have been a Ubisoft hater before it was cool. Even Black Flag and Far Cry 4 were middling sequels at best.I wonder how much of this decline is due to subscription services. I mean if the money is already spent, one does not buy another game unless it is generally praised or talked about. And while most of the ubisoft games are good they haven’t been transformative or innovative in the past years. Anyway it would be a shame if ubisoft would disappear. The worlds they create are typically quite good.The brand Assassins Creed is leached, like when you use the same soil for planting the same tomatoes year after year without letting it lie idle.Ubi is hoping that THIS time, AC will recover. We will see!I have no pity for this company at all. Ubisoft and EA have been a cancer on this industry. Years of identical, low effort games. Dozens of quality studios bought up and demolished without a second thought.We will all be better off without them.@PushSquareUser Not sure if hating something is worth being proud of, but you do you.Must say, after ignoring all things Ubisoft since AC Ezio trilogy and far cry blood dragon, I’ve been finding more appreciation for Ubisoft with Star Wars outlaws, the new prince of Persia and Mario/Rabbids sparks of hope. Really solid single player experiences that don’t follow the ubi formula and show no nefarious business practices. Can’t say they’re not trying to change for the better.Removed – flaming/arguing; user is bannedReading the comment section is saddening me….Yes, Ubi are not a model to follow maybe and they made bad choices an exploit AC too much, but came on! They don’t deserve the hate…They did good games too, and the current ACs are not that bad, I loved origins, and I had a good time with odyssey. Maybe valhalla was not that good, but a lot of people enjoyed for what i knowAnd some studies reuse their sagas too, i don’t need to say names, and if the people enjoy it and buy it what is the problem? why is necessary this hate only because a saga does not evolve and it is not for you anymore?idk, not a fan of ubi here, but sure i enjoy an ac time to time, even maybe I buy shadows on release….One thing I am sure, the industry is better with Ubisoft (still with their flaws) than without them@PushSquareUser yes, I enjoy games that don’t have perfect review scores if they’re a genre/niche I enjoy. Why shouldn’t I? At least I make my own opinion about them by trying them, rather than just going by internet hearsay.@PushSquareUser You’d be surprised how many 10/10 games from a decade ago would be a 6/7 game with today standards xDIt’s ok to enjoy 7/10 , or even less, games even if they don’t do anything new or amazing, if you enjoy the genre and the game.Removed – trolling/baiting; user is bannedEven if I had an interest in Shadows, I think I’d still be too busy playing Monster Hunter Wilds. I’m gonna sink so much time into it…@tameshiyaku If Sony allowed refunds on games like steam does I’d be more willing to try something to see if I’ll truly like it. Unfortunately with the way things are, “forming my own opinion” can quickly become quite the costly endeavor.I just want them to release the splinter cell remake they announced almost 5 years ago, which it is probably in development hell and at this rate i wouldn’t be surprised if it gets canceled cuz ubisoft has been going downhill for years nowElements of this feels manufactured personally. Stock manipulation is the most reasonable motive. Ubisoft have for all intents and purposes been sticking to the same formula for years across multiple series and it was a sustainable business model, there wasn’t this level of panic for Watch Dogs Legion or Far Cry 6 which were panned by their communities but there is for AC Shadows, which seems to move the series forward mechanically in a meaningful way and the fanbase generally is excited for it. Star Wars Outlaws is a lot of the issue with how it bombed which is mad because I’ve seen so much praise for it, and it was the centre of a targeted hate campaign for both having a woman in it and also Star Wars fans being miserable *****. The problem with Avengers is that it being dreadful has killed a couple of undeserving games, Guardians of the Galaxy and Star Wars Outlaws by tenuous links that nobody can exactly pinpoint. I’m not sure how Avatar performed but it’s possible the licensing has just killed the profit margins for it same as Star Wars.@tameshiyaku Great comments. Don’t let the ‘evolved’ detractor get to you.@Nekomichu It saddens me that some of the commenters on this website have forgotten the horrible things uncovered about the company (things I can’t detail here out of concern for getting comments deleted, but are similar to other stories in the industry that just didn’t get talked about as much), all the dumb, greedy and out-of-touch business decisions they’ve made, especially in the past couple years…I don’t care if the games are still decent at this point. This company represents a large portion of the issues with this industry and got away with it until recently. The employees deserve a better, safer place to work. Let Ubisoft die.@nessisonett While I can’t really comment on the stocks thing, I’m gonna question the Outlaws thing. Yes, critics generally liked the game, but mainly at launch there were a lot of bugs and things that just generally felt unpolished. For all the hype behind it, it didn’t meet most of the expectations that came with it, and thus sales were low.I can’t speak to the state of the game now, but the damage was already done at launch. A lot of people are now just gonna view it as “the Star Wars game that kinda exists and sold badly” and with the disdain for Ubisoft already, no amount of updates is gonna really fix that.The amount of pressure that’s on Shadows to succed is crazy, perosnally the game isn’t for me (too much of the same). I genuinely don’t know how well it will perform.@squidduforeal yeah that is another problem in another league, One I am not too well infomed, so i will seek info, thanks for the reminderBut tbh 90% of hate and criticism to Ubi these days are game related issuesEven if f AC Shadows does come out to critical acclaim, I still seriously wonder whether it will sell that well, or if people just aren’t interested in it at this point.I dont think Ubisoft crashing is a good thing for gamers though – I also find it a bit abhorrent how certain ‘gamers’ these days wish for companies to go out of business just because they dont like their games.@Nekomichu Debatable, but regardless it’s good for people to learn more about the bad stuff Ubisoft has done. Blame Arlo (YouTube) for me even looking into any of that in the first place since he refused to review Sparks of Hope because of some of that stuffThis is one of the few instances where there’s maybe a chance a big game company actually gets punishment for bad decisions and I can only hope the people who like their games (of which I have played none) at least understand what company they’re dealing with so they don’t send support to the wrong people.I can only say good luck to Ubisoft 🙏Delaying your tentpole franchise into the next year will generally do that.If I had my way with Ubisoft.There would be a new 2d Raymond similar to Legends offerings.Assassins Creed would be rebooted to not include the future segments and focus solely on individual stories that would hopefully lead them to be better and less convoluted.Farcry would be rebooted and offer more of a mix of what F2 offered along with the later titles. Possibly a smaller denser world filled with destruction elements and better physics like 2 offered in comparison to later versions.Splintercell would be rebooted as well just to introduce it to a new audience while being very similar to the first few games.This is pretty sad even if it feels like they really brought it on themselves.I think Outlaws could’ve sold more if it got delayed and released in the state it is now. It’s neither the best SW game or the best Ubi game but it’s solid fun.The Lost Crown was great and it’s sad to see they no longer want to do smaller projects like it.I’m still excited for Shadows, personally. There has not been a bad AC game IMO.@OmegaStriver> Assassins Creed would be rebooted to not include the future segmentsI’d like the opposite, please. These segments have been marginalized after AC2 and I want them back.Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.When your last two titles, one of which hasn’t been released yet, have been a PR nightmare what did people expect exactly?Companies can recover from a bad game, bad games are forgotten in less than a month, but bad PR, yeah, that will linger for months.When the history of video games is written, there will be a chapter on Ubisoft and the Perils of Formulae. Theyve been churning out the same reskinned stuff for well over a decade; Look! Now it’ Star Wars! See! Now it’s Avatar! The graphics get (marginally) better and the stories interminably longer (except for Mirage), but the game minute by minute is deja vu. Their obsession with open world dynamics over gameplay – i bought Crew Motorfest and there was just so much stuff getting in the way of actuall racing.@CielloArc I really don’t think Outlaws and Shadows being a “PR nightmare” had anything to do with what the games did. Ubisoft is easy to hate on for some of their past decisions but it’s mostly about the rise of this new kind of “influencer” who profits off people wanting to be mad at something – which really sucks.I mean, if I remember correctly, the thing about Outlaws the internet hated ahead of release was that the main character had a strong chin. Ridiculous.@Herculean oh, don’t worry, that won’t get to me. Was too busy to bother. At the end of the day I’m the one actually enjoying this hobby 😉Stopped caring ever since they canned the sequel to Fenyx.@ATaco yeah, it would be great if Sony would handle digital games similar as steam or even better gog.Personally that’s why I stick with physical and often second hand, especially with big studio titles and unfinished launch titles. Smaller niche titles that need the support I prefer to buy new in order to support. If it’s not up to speed I can still sell it for the same amount. Generally speaking I have a good feel what kind of games are up my alley and which aren’t, even when reviews are mixed.I loved Far Cry 5 and the Watch Dogs series but nothing else from them interests me so I wouldn’t be too upset if they collapsed. Especially now that we’ll probably never get another Watch Dogs game anyway.God I hope Ubisoft go under. I don’t want the people to be out of work, but this company is run by idiots and deserves to fail.I’ll never understand the desire some people have for a business to go under and the game industry is littered with that mindset.Ubisoft has largely made decent to good games their entire timeframe in the industry. They’ve had a few clunkers and a few great games too, but nothing they’ve done has been so miserable to root for their business to close shop. I wish the developers success, so they can keep their jobs, obviously.Ubisoft is the video game equivalent of a McDonalds. Imagine if every time you went, they got your order wrong and you had to wait weeks and sometimes months for them to make it right. But the quality of the burgers has gone down significantly. Every Ubisoft game now has the same gameplay copied from previous ones, with the quality getting worse and worse, and almost all of them have been a broken, buggy mess upon release. They are full of repetetive and pointless fetch quests with little emphasis on story or innovative gameplay. It’s tired. Play Black Flag for a bit, then Skull and Bones. Or Outlaws. It’s the same game essentially, but with features stripped out. They used to be one of my favorite companies but now I can’t stand them anymore. And the fact that the Guillemonts have said they will continue to repeat the same business model that has brought them into this financial mess guarantees now it’s just a matter of time before they tank. I quit McDonalds years ago. It’s time to do the same for Ubisoft.@PushSquareUser Lying in their trailers for Watchdog,and Assassin’s Creed Unity being a buggy mess,was the beginning of the end for me,lol.@PushSquareUser “I am proud to have been a Ubisoft hater before it was cool. Even Black Flag and Far Cry 4 were middling sequels at best.”Sorry but being a “hater” has never ever been cool.I hope Ubi survive – they really know how to create beautiful-looking worlds – but suspect they might not. Started playing a new Japanese game last night and there was more story, interesting characters, and intrigue in the first 10 mins than in pretty much a whole Ubi game.People that want a business that employs thousands of people to go out of business are pathetic.@somnambulance Again, consider everything around the games and company themselves rather than just the games. That’s NOT the sole reason for us wanting them gone and I don’t understand people who think game companies are only hated if they make bad games.@Jey887 The safety of the employees there is more important. If they’ve been working at Ubisoft for so long, they can absolutely find good work elsewhere. Don’t pity the beast because its captors would be sad for a couple seconds.@squidduforeal Realistically, the future of a bankrupt Ubisoft looks to be Tencent owning their IP. Is that preferable?I haven’t seen much that Ubisoft has done that is more egregious than any of the other large scale publishers. Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment…Sony Quietly Pulls ‘Eslop’ Titles in Face of Mounting PressureDraining the swampSony Reiterates Major PS5 First-Party Games Will Launch in 2025, Anticipates High PerformanceA good year aheadXbox Boss Says He’s Given Up Trying to Convince PS5 Players to Switch Systems”Let’s just allow more people to play”Assassin’s Creed Shadows Character Swapping Explained, Loyal Players Won’t ‘Miss Out’The choice is yoursUbisoft Revenue, Net Bookings Decline 31%These are not happy numbersGame ProfileTitle:Assassin’s Creed ShadowsSystem:PlayStation 5Also Available For:Xbox Series X|SPublisher:UbisoftDeveloper:UbisoftGenre:Action, Adventure, RPGPlayers:1Release Date:PlayStation 5Series:Assassin’s CreedOfficial Site:ubisoft.comWhere to buy:Pre Order on Amazon
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