Founded in 1986, French company Ubisoft is a pioneer in the video game industry, creating many memories for older gamers. Many indeed remember the firm during their gaming sessions on a certain Prince of Persia, on Might & Magic, without forgetting of course cult licenses like Rayman, but also Driver, Rainbow Six, Splinter Cell, Trackmania, or Alexandra Ledermann for equine enthusiasts. More recently, Ubisoft is also Assassin’s Creed, The Division, Just Dance or WatchDogs. Major licenses therefore. However, in 2022, the group had a very complicated year, weighed down by disappointing results.
Ubisoft in free fall
Indeed, with regard to the 2022-2023 financial year, Ubisoft has not had the expected success. The games Just Dance or even Mario & Rabbids: Sparks of Hope have “underperformed” in the words of Yves Guillemot, and this “despite excellent ratings and player reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan.”
The 2023 version of Just Dance notably skipped a physical version, the games available in stores ultimately offering only a single-use code. This may explain it a bit… As for the game mixing the worlds of Mario and Rabbids, despite real qualities (and the presence of Mario and his clique), it must be admitted that the latter was launched in a fairly general indifference, Ubisoft failing to create “the event” wish.
© Ubisoft
In the process, the company confirmed the cancellation of four projects in the making for a few months in the group’s studios, without forgetting to postpone for the umpteenth time its piracy game Skull and Bones, now scheduled for the fiscal year 2023-2024. . Recall that the game was first announced in 2017…
Obviously, the Ubisoft share price fell on the Paris stock exchange following the announcements of the French group. If the latter remained around €23, it fell to €19 on January 12, before painfully exceeding the €20 mark since. The group notably confirmed a lowered objective for the third quarter of the 2022-2023 financial year, with now 725 million euros against a previous objective of around 830 million.
And the players, what do they think?
On the players’ side, it’s hard not to discern a certain distrust of Ubisoft productions for a few years now. There are several reasons for this, starting with the major house licenses (Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, etc.) which have been seriously struggling to renew themselves for too long now. Many are also pointing the finger at a creative side sorely absent at Ubisoft, in favor of pure and hard marketing, with repetitions therefore (and collectors’ editions and other overpriced Deluxe), but also “new“games designed solely to surf on certain current trends.
Similarly, it is not uncommon to see Ubisoft games on sale a few weeks after their launch, and many players are “wait for the price drop” before buying the latest game from Ubi (this is also the case for other publishers). If it was once an unfailing guarantee of quality, the Ubisoft logo now seems to inspire more mistrust among players, a fringe of them displaying a particular allergy to “Ubisoft games“.
© Ubisoft
In short, the Ubisoft boat is seriously starting to rock, and some companies could take the opportunity to interfere in the heart of the French group, its capital already being held up to 11% by the Chinese Tencent. To see now if the new Assassin’s Creed Mirage will allow Ubisoft to shine again. This is obviously all we wish for the French giant (that, and a real good new Rayman too, creative and ingenious “like before“).
