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Ubisoft shares have plummeted by 20% so far today following a delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and “softer than expected” sales of Star Wars Outlaws.
The publisher has also lowered its financial targets for the current fiscal year and is now expecting break-even non-IFRS operating income.
The company’s Q2 has also been worse than expected, with reduced forecasts of €350 million ($390.4 million) to €370 million ($412.7 million) in net bookings. It had previously targeted €500 million ($557.7 million).
With its new targets, Ubisoft expects to generate net bookings of approximately €1.95 billion this fiscal year.
Dropping down
With lower estimates for the quarter and the year at large, Ubisoft shares have fallen significantly as a result. They’ve been steadily declining since February 2021, down from €85.15 ($94.98) per share to €9.08 ($10.13) per share at the time of writing.
Since September 2019, Ubisoft’s share price has fallen by 86.5%. In the past five days, shares have declined by 29.3%.
The company plans to implement a number of updates to improve Outlaws ahead of the holiday season and will then release Assassin’s Creed Shadows on February 14th, 2025. The company said the delay from the initial November slot was to “provide additional time to further polish the title”.
“While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title. This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition,” Ubisoft said in a statement.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows will also mark a departure from the Season Pass model and fans who pre-order the game will now receive its first expansion at no extra cost.
“Unwavering commitment”
“Our second quarter performance fell short of our expectations, prompting us to address this swiftly and firmly, with an even greater focus on a player-centric, gameplay-first approach and an unwavering commitment to the long-term value of our brands,” said Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.
“Although the tangible benefits of the company’s transformation are taking longer than anticipated to materialise, we keep on our strategy, focusing on two key verticals – open world adventures and GaaS-native experiences – with the objective to drive growth, recurrence and robust free cash flow generation in our business.
“I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
In light of the quarter’s underperformance, Ubisoft’s executive committee will launch a review around the company’s execution, player-centric approach and strategic path towards a higher-performing model, it said.
