(Paris) The French video game publisher Ubisoft, “disappointed” by its recent performance despite the release of major games, revises its financial objectives for the whole of the 2022-2023 financial year with sales down “by more than 10%” compared to the previous year, he announced Thursday.
For the staggered 2022-2023 financial year, the French group had initially communicated a growth target of “greater than 10%” in “net bookings” (“net reservations”, i.e. sales excluding deferred revenue), its benchmark indicator.
But due to the context of “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions”, observed in particular during the holiday season despite the release of major games at the end of the year, Ubisoft has decided “to carry out a complete revision of (its) revenue outlook leading to a cautious increased for years to come,” he said in a statement.
Its net bookings target for the third quarter of fiscal year 2022-23 is now expected “at approximately 725 million euros” against a previous target “of approximately 830 million euros (one euro = $1.44) “.
“We are clearly disappointed with our recent performance,” said Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO of Ubisoft, quoted in the press release.
“Despite excellent ratings and player reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by the underperformance of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope in the last weeks of 2022 and early January. Just Dance 2023 also underperformed,” he added.
As a result, Ubisoft has announced a set of “measures” aimed at reducing its costs and “strengthening its growth prospects”, with a strategy clearly centered on its flagship games and the “building of brands” worldwide, like its franchise Assassin’s Creed.
Thus, Ubisoft has indicated that it has stopped the development of three “unannounced” projects, in addition to the four already announced in July 2022.
In parallel with these seven canceled games, the title Skull and Bonesinitially scheduled for early November 2022 before being pushed back to March 2023, will now be released in “2023-2024”.
This postponement comes as the highly anticipated game Avataroriginally scheduled for the end of 2022 to accompany the theatrical release of the second opus of the American blockbuster, had also been rescheduled for “2023-2024”.
“We expect our strategy […] end up generating significant value creation,” said Ubisoft Chief Financial Officer Frédérick Duguet.
The company also said that its financial situation remains “solid” with around 1.5 billion euros in cash “and cash equivalents”.