Ubisoft orders miss estimates after weak Star Wars sales
UBISOFT Entertainment’s net bookings missed analysts’ estimates as production delays and weaker-than-expected sales weigh on the French video game company’s turnaround plan.
Net bookings were 352.3 million euros (S$506.6 million) in the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, down 36 per cent compared to the same period last year, Ubisoft said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct 31). This compares to the 368 million euros average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and falls at the lower end of the company’s recently cut guidance.
The company said it expected net bookings for this quarter, which includes the holiday season, of approximately 380 million euros, down from the 626 million euros it reported in the same quarter last year.
Ubisoft has been struggling to recover from a pandemic-era production crunch that resulted in delays in the release of new games and cancelled titles. In September, shares fell to their lowest in more than a decade after the company cut its outlook and delayed its hotly anticipated game Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November to February, skipping the lucrative holiday period. The company said it needed more time to improve the game after its recent Star Wars release had underperformed.
Ubisoft chief executive officer Yves Guillemot highlighted in a statement efforts being made to transform the company to its former glory through a “player-centric” approach, which involves improving the quality of games including Star Wars Outlaws based on customer feedback. He added that the company had cut costs in the quarter by reducing headcount and external spend.
It reiterated its full-year net bookings guidance of 1.95 billion euros.
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To meet that guidance, the company would need a big jump in bookings in the fourth quarter, which could come if Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a hit.
Still, analysts said the target was ambitious given the unfavourable new release date and competition. Deutsche Bank’s George Brown described the guidance as “stretched” and said the release was “arguably the most important game in Ubisoft’s history.”
Shares rose 3.4 per cent at 10:24 am in Paris on Thursday. They have fallen more than 40 per cent so far this year.
Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd. have been considering options including a potential buyout of the French video game developer, Bloomberg previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Tencent owned 9.2 per cent of Ubisoft’s net voting rights at the end of April, while the Guillemot family held about 20.5 per cent, according to the firm’s latest annual report.
Chief financial officer Frédérick Duguet said the company continues exploring the sale of non-core assets that fall outside of two core verticals – open world adventures and games-as-a-service – and “enhance financial flexibility.” BLOOMBERG
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