by Federica Mileo and Enrico Sciacovelli
(Reuters) – French video game developer Ubisoft Entertainment SA on Thursday announced net bookings slightly above its forecast for the first quarter, thanks to strong performances from Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six Siege.
Ubisoft, which counts among its titles “Prince of Persia” and “The Division”, recorded a 10% drop in its net bookings to 293.3 million euros for the quarter ended in June, while its forecasts were d around 280 million euros.
The group forecasts net sales for the second quarter around 270 million euros and still sees a non-IFRS operating result of around 400 million euros in 2022-23.
Over the past few months, Ubisoft has struggled with delays and a drop in demand from the sales highs reached earlier during the pandemic. The company also faces competition from blockbuster titles and free-to-play games.
The maker of the hit “Assassin’s Creed” franchise has delayed the release of its “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora” to 2023-24.
“We have also decided to release a smaller, unannounced premium game in 2023-24, originally planned for 2022-23,” Ubisoft said in a statement.
First quarter IFRS 15 revenue was €318.2 million, down 9.8% compared to €352.8 million generated last year.
(Report Enrico Sciacovelli and Federica Mileo in Gdansk; French version Charlotte Lavin, edited by Matthieu Protard)
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