The French publisher has been predictable: every second AAA game is essentially delayed for some time…

Ubisoft has announced its results for the previous quarter (October to December 2022). Sales of €1.5 billion (+6.1% year-on-year), net bookings of €1.43 billion (-2.6%), and back-catalog net bookings of €249 million (-27%!). It isn’t positive, and Ubisoft has also lowered its full-year forecast (i.e., Q4 for the January-March period), which was not well received by investors.

Just Dance 2023 (honest question: does anyone know anyone who has bought the game in the last few years?) and Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope did not perform well. The French publisher’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, is tightening the company’s belt for the next two years. Despite it, Assassin’s Creed has done well, with active player numbers up 30% in the first nine months of the fiscal year, setting a new record for the franchise. Rainbow Six: Siege’s quarter was not bad either, with a record daily revenue in December (despite being seven years since its release).

“We are committed to boosting our efficiency and execution through a more agile organization adapted to new market conditions, with a strong focus on initiatives to enhance predictability across our productions and through our cost-reduction efforts. As we are focused on building on our strengths, we prioritize our efforts on big brands and long-lasting Live games,” says Guillemot. Over the last year and a half, Ubisoft has taken the development framework of the Quebec City and Montréal studios (after all, they worked on the last three Assassin’s Creeds) and started applying them to other franchises.

Guillemot stressed that the number of games in development at Ubisoft would be significantly reduced over the next two years to make room for games on the way, many of which will have post-launch content and require a certain number of developers. So let us guess, are Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake and Beyond Good & Evil 2 dead?

Source: Gamesindustry