Ubisoft has released its financial results for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, reporting significant declines in revenues and net bookings.
The firm remains optimistic, however, with the upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Pre-sales of the title are reported to be “tracking solidly” and on par with the franchise’s second-highest earner, Odyssey.
Here’s what you need to know:
The numbers:
For the nine months ending December 31, 2024
- Revenue: €990 million (down 31.4% year-on-year)
- Net bookings: €944 million (down 34.8%)
- Digital net bookings: €784 million (down 33.8%)
- Back-catalogue net bookings: €762.3 million (down 27.7%)
For the three months ending December 31, 2024
- Net bookings: €301.8 million
- Digital net bookings: €257.4 million
The highlights:
Despite a significant 51.8% decline year-on-year in net bookings for Q3, Ubisoft highlighted that this was in line with its revised expectation of €300 million for the period.
Ubisoft remains optimistic about its next quarter, and is expecting net bookings to increase following the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on March 20.
Pre-sales from the title are “tracking solidly,” with CFO Frederick Duguet noting in an earnings call (via PC Gamer) that sales are in line with Odyssey.
While the firm noted it has a “solid back catalogue and expected material partnerships” to come in Q4, the increase in revenues will hinge on the launch of Shadows.
“Early previews have been positive, praising its narrative and immersive experience, with both characters playing critical roles in the game’s storyline, as well as the quality and complementarity of the gameplay provided by the dual protagonist approach,” said Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.
“I want to commend the incredible talent and dedication of the entire Assassin’s Creed team, who is working tirelessly to ensure that Shadows delivers on the promise of what is the franchise’s most ambitious entry yet.”
Looking at the first nine months of the fiscal year, Ubisoft recorded 36 million monthly active users across console and PC. As for playtime and session days per player, these rose by 4% and 7%, respectively.
Ubisoft noted that its online tactical shooter Rainbow Six Siege delivered a “resilient performance” during Q3, and experienced a growth in session days per player.
By the end of the quarter, the title achieved the highest monthly average revenue per paying user since its release in 2015.
The Crew Motorfest also saw its highest monthly player count during the quarter, with session days increasing 38% year-on-year. The firm noted that its “retention and monetisation metrics continue to significantly outperform those of The Crew 2 since launch.”
Regarding its ongoing cost reduction plan, the firm says it is “ahead of schedule” following recent cuts at two UK studios – Leamington and Reflections – in addition to Ubisoft Düsseldorf and Ubisoft Stockholm.
Last December, Ubisoft announced it would sunset its free-to-play shooter XDefiant this year. This decision resulted in the closure of two production studios and layoffs affecting almost 300 employees.
Despite this, Ubisoft has announced “further targeted restructuring” but has not specified what this will mean for employees across its portfolio.
“As a result of disciplined execution, we have announced further targeted restructuring, making difficult but necessary choices,” said Guillemot.
“[We] now expect to exceed our cost reduction plan by the end of FY25, ahead of schedule. We plan to pursue our efforts in FY26, going beyond the initial target by a significant margin.”
Guillemot also provided an update on the ongoing formal review of its strategic options, which was announced last month.
“Ultimately, the objective is to unlock the best value from our assets for our stakeholders and to foster the best conditions to create great games in a fast-evolving market. We are convinced there are different potential paths to achieve this ambition.”
One of these potential paths is a buyout from Tencent, reports of which first emerged in October 2024.
In response to these reports, CFO Duguet said Ubisoft would not “comment on specific rumours” and would “inform the market if and when a transaction materalises.”
