(Paris) The French video game publisher Ubisoft, penalized by the postponement of several titles, recorded a turnover down 8.2% in the first quarter of its staggered 2023-2024 fiscal year, to 288.9 million euros (one euro = CA$1.47), it announced on Thursday.
If it is “above” the objective “by around 240 million euros”, the “net bookings” (net reservations, i.e. sales excluding deferred revenue, its benchmark indicator, Ed) is also down by 7.7% at constant exchange rates over the period, to 267.7 million euros.
On the other hand, thanks to the numerous exits planned for this year, Ubisoft confirms that it anticipates “strong growth” in its net reservations in 2023-2024, as well as non-IFRS operating income “of around 400 million euros”.
Exercise’s most anticipated game, Assassin’s Creed Miragea new installment in the hit series, will be released on October 12, when it was originally scheduled for the end of 2022.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandoraadaptation of the James Cameron film universe originally announced for the end of 2022, and Prince of Persia The Lost Crown are also expected during the 2023-2024 financial year.
Another area of development for Ubisoft in 2023-2024: its “free-to-play” (free with advertising) and mobile games, stimulated by a partnership with Netflix and a mobile license agreement concluded in July 2022 with Level Infinite, a subsidiary of the Chinese giant Tencent.
This agreement, described as “one of the largest publishing contracts ever signed in our industry” by Ubisoft, and estimated at around 370 million euros not including royalties, should lead to Assassin’s Creed Codename Jadea mobile game mixing action, adventure and role-playing in an open world.
“We have not yet communicated on the launch date of this game. We are indeed in the test phase to optimize all the key indicators”, however indicated the financial director of Ubisoft Frédérick Duguet, Thursday during a conference call.