Ubisoft: Sales and profits down

A lot of prose, little concrete: Ubisoft promises investors a return to increasing sales – but does not reveal how.

For the first time in the company’s history, three major Ubisoft brands have each reaped more than €300 million, setting new records: Assassin’s Creed, far cry and Rainbow Six. Ubisoft does not name specific sales figures. The existing titles – ie the lavish ‘back catalogue’ – also contribute more than two thirds to sales and ensure a pleasant background noise in sales.

But that was it with the good news. Because even if sales increased sharply again in the first quarter of 2022: For the full year 2021/22, Ubisoft reports declining income of €2.12 billion (minus 5%) with reduced profitability.

Only for the 2022/23 season does Ubisoft intend to return to the old revenue cruising altitude, driven by innovations such as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Skull & Bones as well as several Free2Play games based on major brands.

Up to and including June 2022 is included Rabbids: Party of Legends only a full-price console game is planned – flanked by additional content for long-running favorites such as 1800, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, for honour and Rainbow Six Siege. The company is silent on whether and in what form the controversial blockchain platform Quartz will be continued.

After several harassment and discrimination scandals, the management is paying particular attention to topics such as diversity and human resources: According to this, a quarter of the workforce is now female – at management level it is over 40 percent. CEO Yves Guillemot assures the more than 1,000 Ubisoft employees in the embattled Ukraine of the company’s undivided solidarity.

With a market capitalization of just over €5 billion, Ubisoft remains a potential takeover target from more well-funded competitors. According to market rumours, the founding Guillemot family wants to arm itself against hostile takeover attempts by forming alliances with investors. The largest shareholders include the Chinese world market leader Tencent Games and Black Rock, each with 5 percent.