For the first nine months of the fiscal year (April-December 2021), Ubisoft’s revenue amounted to 1.41 billion euros, a decrease of 18% compared to the same months of the year. last year. Digital accounts for just over one billion euros and represents 74% of total turnover. Sales on PlayStation still constitute the majority of the publisher’s turnover (31%) ahead of the PC (25%), Xbox (18%), Switch (11%) and mobile (9%).
Big release in recent months for the French publisher, Far Cry 6 has to be content with statistics related to playing time and recurring player investment (additional content and other in-game purchases). Compared to Far Cry 5, this last episode is therefore up 45% and 30% in these two respective areas. Satisfaction also for Riders Republic, whose playing time and recurring player investment are up 60% and 4x respectively compared to Steep. For its part, Just Dance 2022 continues to surf on the form of the Switch and has achieved a strong performance for the 3rd consecutive year. Launched last month, Rainbow Six Extraction has reached 5 million registered players, a not particularly extraordinary stat considering its presence in the Game Pass subscription.
As for the alumni, Ubisoft once again congratulates Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, more than ever the boss of the license with revenue up 70% compared to Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, even before the release of its biggest expansion. Congratulations also for Rainbow Six Siege, which has 80 million registered players since its launch, including 10 million over the last 12 months. These titles are part of the reason why the back catalog represents 64% of the turnover announced here by Ubisoft. Other major contributors include Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Brawlhalla, The Crew 2, Far Cry 5, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, For Honor, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle, and Watch Dogs Legion.
For 35 years, Ubisoft has preferred to grow organically
Ubisoft also took advantage of the strong news at the start of the year in the field of mergers and acquisitions to highlight the organic development model that it has been cultivating for 35 years, in particular its production power (17,000 employees, 45 studios ), the richness of its catalog of licenses or its proprietary technologies (Anvil, Snowdrop). The term “organic” here refers to growth that occurs through recruitment and the opening of studios rather than through acquisitions that “require unprecedented levels of investment“, to use the terms used.
As for knowing if Ubisoft is positioning itself as a heart to take, we remember the long Vivendi soap opera during which Ubisoft had fought fiercely to defend its independence against the insistence of the Bolloré clan. But times are changing, and Yves Guillemot confirmed at the conference that any offer to acquire his company will be considered. A cautious answer which at least has the merit of confirming that the door is no longer completely closed. “Ubisoft can remain independent. We have the talent, the industrial and financial scale, and a large portfolio of powerful licenses. That being said, if there was an offer to buy us, the board would of course consider it for the benefit of all stakeholders.“commented the management.
In this context, the beginning of the year has strikingly confirmed both the strong appeal of the video game industry, and the scarcity of high-quality assets. It is now very clear that, while the organic model requires time and iterations, M&As require unprecedented levels of investment. Ubisoft’s assets have never been stronger at a time when asset values have never been higher.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Skull & Bones in 2022-2023
“Looking to the future, we have unparalleled production strength and creative power. We invest in promising new technologies, and, building on the strength of our brands, we have increasing access to all distribution channels, platforms, geographies and business models. We are incredibly proud of the work of our teams on what is the richest game pipeline in Ubisoft’s history.“, also commented Yves Guillemot.
“Regarding free-to-play, we are developing our expertise on all platforms, while partnering with Tencent, one of the most prolific developers of mobile games for core audiences. This partnership is about to bear significant fruit“, adds the CEO. In addition, note that even if it is missing and would still be stuck in preproduction, Ubisoft is still betting on Beyond Good and Evil 2. The game does not have a launch window, however, unlike Avatar : Frontiers of Pandora, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Skull & Bones and “other exciting games“which are expected during the next fiscal year, which begins in April 2022 and ends in March 2023.
Finally, Ubisoft quickly mentions its desire to “creating a more inclusive and welcoming workplace“but the group’s efforts still seem very insufficient in the eyes of the militant employees, who lament to see that the management has not acceded to any of their requests more than 200 days after the publication of their open letter.