Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Ubisoft to Close Winnipeg and Belgrade Studios: 380 Roles at Risk

Ubisoft is implementing a significant restructuring plan, resulting in the closure of its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and the reduction of its global publishing team. These actions place 380 roles at risk.

• Ubisoft is closing its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and restructuring its Barcelona team, putting a total of 380 roles at risk.
• The company is reducing its global publishing operations as part of a broader strategy to cut fixed costs by €500 million, aiming to lower them from $1.75 billion in March 2023 to $1.25 billion by March 2028.
• The Barcelona studio restructuring will narrow its focus exclusively to 'Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege', though its separate mobile studio in the city remains unaffected.

The Assassin’s Creed Franchise on Live Streaming

The Assassin’s Creed franchise maintains its relevance in the modern gaming landscape by continuously evolving its gameplay mechanics and settings to capture audience interest.

• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla remains the franchise's viewership peak, driving monthly hours watched to 30.1 million, likely due to its open-world RPG format and popular Norse setting.
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage generated 5 million hours watched and 114,000 peak viewers during its first week, though it underperformed compared to larger-scale titles like Starfield (27.9 million hours) and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (11.2 million hours).
• Pre-release interest for Assassin’s Creed Shadows is high, with 199,000 chat mentions on Twitch, bolstered by a 7,100-mention trailer release in May and a 5,800-mention gameplay demo in June.

Star Wars Outlaws Remains IGN's Most Wishlisted Game: June Wishlist Chart

Star Wars Outlaws maintains its position as the most wishlisted game of 2024 among IGN users, despite ranking 17th in monthly additions for June.

• Star Wars Outlaws is the most wishlisted 2024 release among IGN users and holds the second-highest number of wishlist additions over the past 12 months, trailing only Grand Theft Auto 6.
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom topped the June wishlist chart for new additions, followed by Doom: The Dark Ages, Mario & Luigi: Brothership, Gears of War: E-Day, and Astro Bot.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains the most backlogged game on the IGN Playlist platform, both historically and for the month of June.

Dwarf Fortress and Ixion Debut Analysis

The early December 2022 period highlights a significant trend on Steam where deep, complex strategy and simulation titles are dominating player interest and driving high Day 1 revenue.

• Dwarf Fortress achieved over 160,000 units sold within 24 hours of its early December 2022 release, peaking at over 22,000 concurrent users.
• Complex simulation titles are seeing high market demand, evidenced by Ixion reaching 16,000 concurrent users despite reported game balancing issues.
• New release performance is highly polarized; while Choo-Choo Charles saw strong engagement, Hello Neighbor 2 underperformed with fewer than 700 concurrent users.

Ubisoft FY23 Earnings: First-Half Performance

Ubisoft’s first-half performance report for fiscal year 2023 details a period of financial transition characterized by a slight decline in net bookings alongside strategic operational shifts.

• Ubisoft reported a non-IFRS operating loss of €139 million for the first half of FY23, a significant decline from the €44.1 million profit recorded during the same period last year.
• Net bookings for the first half of FY23 totaled €699 million, representing a 3% year-over-year decrease despite a strong second quarter that exceeded projections by €136 million.
• R&D expenses surged to €452.2 million from €276.2 million in the prior year, driven primarily by increased depreciation of in-house software production.

Ubisoft Third-Quarter 2021-22 Sales

Ubisoft’s third-quarter fiscal 2021-22 results demonstrate the resilience of its vertically integrated, asset-based business model.

Ubisoft Faces ‘Great Exodus’

Ubisoft is currently experiencing a significant period of staff attrition, characterized by the departure of dozens of key developers who previously contributed to major AAA franchises such as Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

• Ubisoft is experiencing a significant loss of senior talent, with dozens of key developers from major franchises like Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla departing over an 18-month period.
• LinkedIn data indicates an attrition rate of 12% at Ubisoft, which is higher than industry peers like EA (9%) and Epic Games (7%), though lower than Activision Blizzard (16%).
• Departing employees cite low compensation and dissatisfaction with management’s handling of internal misconduct scandals as primary drivers for leaving.

Ubisoft Entertainment: Rapport financier semestriel 2021-22

Ubisoft’s financial performance for the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal year reflects a period of strategic transition characterized by stable revenues and significant investment in long-term development.

• Ubisoft recorded 718.2 million euros in net bookings and 751.3 million euros in revenue for the first half of fiscal year 2021-22, supported by the back-catalogue and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
• Operating income contracted to 44.1 million euros, primarily due to a 306.5 million euro investment in research and development as part of a strategic workforce expansion to over 20,000 employees.
• Management revised the full-year net bookings forecast from growth to stability or slight decline following the decision to delay key titles like Prince of Persia and The Division Heartland to fiscal year 2022-23.

Duty Calls

In October 2021, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick announced a series of corporate reforms aimed at addressing a major sexual harassment scandal and improving the company’s internal culture.

• Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick has pledged to waive his salary, bonuses, and equity awards until the company meets specific diversity targets, accepting only California's minimum wage of $62,500 in the interim.
• The company committed to increasing the percentage of women and non-binary employees by 50% and has pledged $250 million toward broader diversity initiatives.
• Activision Blizzard will end the practice of forced arbitration for employee grievances and implement a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, resulting in immediate termination for violations.

Ubisoft FY22 Earnings: H1 Performance

Ubisoft’s H1 FY22 earnings report details the company’s financial performance for the first half of the fiscal year, highlighting a period of transition characterized by a reliance on back-catalog strength and proprietary brand performance.

Ubisoft First-Half 2021-22 Earnings Figures: Sales Outperformance Driven by Back-Catalog

Ubisoft’s first-half financial results for the 2021-22 fiscal year demonstrate a strategic pivot toward long-term growth, characterized by a reliance on established back-catalog titles and the sustained popularity of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

Indecent Exposure

Ubisoft’s recent engagement strategies regarding fan-generated content have drawn significant criticism for their exploitative nature.

• Ubisoft has faced criticism for sourcing fan-made content for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla through a contest that awards only $225 in merchandise to winners while requiring them to transfer all intellectual property rights to the company in perpetuity.
• This contest follows a 2019 partnership with HitRecord, where Ubisoft was criticized for paying a total of $2,000 to be split among collaborators for fan-contributed music in Watch Dogs Legion.
• Industry analysts suggest Ubisoft’s aggressive pursuit of user-generated content may be an early, experimental effort to build a foundation for future blockchain-based economies where player creations can be traded and monetized.