Ubisoft says it has postponed a number of of its “largest productions” at the moment in improvement so as to grant them extra time within the oven, after beforehand delaying Murderer’s Creed Shadows so as to present additional polish.
Precisely which video games these are was not named by Ubisoft throughout its monetary outcomes broadcast at the moment, although in an investor name listened to by Eurogamer, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot advised the impacted titles got here from the writer’s prime 5 manufacturers – Murderer’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, The Division and Ghost Recon.
Guillemot mentioned Shadows’ delay had been a “good choice to ship a extremely robust high quality” and that the delayed tasks would now launch past the present monetary yr ending thirty first March 2026, in both the next yr ending March 2027, or the yr after ending March 2028.
“After a evaluation of our pipeline, we now have determined to supply extra improvement time to a few of our largest productions so as to create the perfect circumstances for fulfillment,” Guillemot mentioned at the moment in an announcement. “As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see vital content material coming from our largest manufacturers.”
What’s coming this yr then? Ubisoft lists Anno 117: Pax Romana, its long-delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, Rainbow Six Cell and The Division spin-off Resurgence, in addition to “different titles” to be introduced at a later stage. Murderer’s Creed Shadows will get is first main enlargement later this yr, whereas Rainbow Six Siege will get its large X replace in June. (There is no point out in any respect of Past Good & Evil 2.)
Elsewhere, Ubisoft has commented additional on Murderer’s Creed Shadows’ launch, its plans for a brand new subsidary backed by Chinese language writer Tencent, and ongoing push to chop prices and headcount.
The corporate’s newest monetary outcomes present it earned a “barely beneath goal” €1.85bn (£1.56m) for the yr ending thirty first March, a miss it blamed on “decrease than anticipated partnerships, notably resulting from a timing impression”.
In fact, Ubisoft’s largest launch of the yr was Murderer’s Creed Shadows, which lastly arrived in March after a notable delay from final yr. Ubisoft prevented offering a brand new gross sales determine for the sport at the moment, although mentioned its monetary efficiency “reaffirms the energy and resilience” of the model.
As beforehand introduced, Shadows had the second-highest day one gross sales income for the sequence – behind the lockdown-era launch of Valhalla. Immediately, Ubisoft mentioned Shadows had now recorded 160m gameplay hours throughout all gamers thus far. What number of gamers? Ubisoft is not saying, and hasn’t supplied a contemporary determine for the reason that sport handed 3 million gamers per week after launch.
The Murderer’s Creed model as a complete had “round 30 million distinctive gamers” for the fourth consecutive yr, Ubisoft mentioned, the identical as Rainbow Six. Ubisoft’s third pillar, Far Cry, had “round 20 million” in the meantime.
On Ubisoft’s continued mission to chop prices – and workers – the corporate mentioned it had succeeded in trimming €200m from its fastened prices forward of time, with a lowered headcount now at 17,782 individuals. That is a lower of 3000 individuals from September 2022, resulting from layoffs and diminished recruitment.
“This yr has been a difficult one for Ubisoft, with combined dynamics throughout our portfolio, amid intense business competitors,” Guillemot continued. “Regardless of these headwinds, Ubisoft managed to ship constructive free money circulate era over the fiscal yr, reflecting the self-discipline utilized throughout the Group.
“Conscious of the challenges forward, we took decisive steps to proceed strengthening the corporate’s future,” Guillemot continued. “The launch of Murderer’s Creed Shadows was a defining second. It reaffirmed the ability of the Murderer’s Creed model, with a extremely favorable group response from long-time followers and new gamers alike. We additionally accomplished our preliminary price financial savings program forward of schedule. We’re dedicated to going additional, with extra financial savings of at the least €100m over the following two years to drive structural efficiencies and reinforce the foundations of our organisation.”
Additional particulars of Ubisoft’s plan to launch a brand new subsidiary with Tencent that may home the corporate’s largest three manufacturers – Murderer’s Creed, Rainbow Six and Far Cry – can be laid out later this yr, Ubisoft mentioned.
That mentioned, Ubisoft mentioned at the moment that this new group will give attention to “enhancing the standard of narrative-driven solo experiences”, “increasing dwell service choices with richer multiplayer options and extra frequent content material updates”, and focusing on “underpenetrated markets comparable to cell and China”.
And in different information, Ubisoft’s movie and tv division has introduced a Riders Republic film, with Unhealthy Boys for Life administrators Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed as much as work on the venture.
