J. Clement
Research lead covering internet and gaming
Ubisoft’s journey from the Parisian suburbs to global stores has been anything but smooth. However, behind the turmoil lies a gaming company with some of the industry's biggest titles and a loyal fan base.
Along with this financial decline, since March 2021, Ubisoft has halved its market capitalization to about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, trailing industry leaders Nintendo and Electronic Arts and positioning itself at the lower end of the pack among the similarly beleaguered competitors Embracer Group (Sweden) and CD Projekt (Poland).
Additionally, Ubisoft has seen its fair share of scandals regarding company culture and workplace misconduct in recent years. During the summer of 2020, the #metoo movement swept through the video gaming industry, and several Ubisoft executives were terminated after internal investigations after accusations of sexual misconduct issues. Extensive media reports during the following months revealed that these parts of the company culture had even impacted the development and content of Ubisoft’s games. What followed was a 2021 class action lawsuit in France, as well as an exodus of top-billed talent of some of Ubisoft’s biggest gaming titles over the next 18 months.
As of November 2023, the most popular Ubisoft titles on the video streaming platform Twitch were the then-newly released Assassin’s Creed Mirage, followed by Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Upcoming Ubisoft games include Assassin's Creed Nexus VR, a title for Meta Quest VR devices, first-person action-adventure Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as well as the repeatedly pushed back pirate RPG Skull and Bones, which was first announced during E3 2017.
Additionally, Ubisoft’s cloud gaming ventures gained a strong boost in October 2023 when the company acquired the cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty and all other current and future Activision Blizzard games outside of the EU for the next 15 years. This deal was part of Microsoft’s several concessions to regulators to finalize its January 2022 acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard. This deal also means that Activision Blizzard games will now be available on the company’s subscription service, Ubisoft Plus, drawing in new potential customers.
Ubisoft’s current company performance
With annual 2022-23 net sales of 1.8 billion euros, Ubisoft reported its worst financial result since 2019-20. The annual net loss for Ubisoft’s most recently reported fiscal year amounted to nearly 495 million euros, prompting a wave of company-wide restructuring and cost-cutting measures, including game cancellations and layoffs to save over 200 million euros in non-variable costs over the next two years.Along with this financial decline, since March 2021, Ubisoft has halved its market capitalization to about 3.8 billion U.S. dollars, trailing industry leaders Nintendo and Electronic Arts and positioning itself at the lower end of the pack among the similarly beleaguered competitors Embracer Group (Sweden) and CD Projekt (Poland).
Spotlight: Ubisoft as a workplace
With one of the biggest workforces in the industry, Ubisoft is one of the biggest gaming companies worldwide. However, as part of the cost reduction plan announced in January 2023, Ubisoft reduced its number of employees by about 1,200, from 20,279 employees in September 2022 to 19,410 in September 2023. The company also closed five European business offices and eliminated several of its production teams, most recently in November 2023 at its Canadian locations.Additionally, Ubisoft has seen its fair share of scandals regarding company culture and workplace misconduct in recent years. During the summer of 2020, the #metoo movement swept through the video gaming industry, and several Ubisoft executives were terminated after internal investigations after accusations of sexual misconduct issues. Extensive media reports during the following months revealed that these parts of the company culture had even impacted the development and content of Ubisoft’s games. What followed was a 2021 class action lawsuit in France, as well as an exodus of top-billed talent of some of Ubisoft’s biggest gaming titles over the next 18 months.
Assassins, snipers, and dancing, oh my!
Despite these internal struggles, Ubisoft is a gaming company with relatively strong brand recognition. The company is the developer and publisher of global hit gaming franchises, including Rayman, Assassin’s Creed, Anno, Far Cry, Just Dance, and various Tom Clancy-branded games. Ubisoft’s best-selling video gaming series is the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which has sold over 200 million copies since its initial launch in 2007.As of November 2023, the most popular Ubisoft titles on the video streaming platform Twitch were the then-newly released Assassin’s Creed Mirage, followed by Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Upcoming Ubisoft games include Assassin's Creed Nexus VR, a title for Meta Quest VR devices, first-person action-adventure Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as well as the repeatedly pushed back pirate RPG Skull and Bones, which was first announced during E3 2017.
Ubisoft’s monetization and cloud gaming outlook
Ubisoft is particularly known for its open-world video games and in the past years has successfully pivoted to a live service monetization model with many of its major titles. In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the company generated about 1 billion euros in net bookings via the sales of digital items, DLC, seasonal passes, subscriptions, and advertising.Additionally, Ubisoft’s cloud gaming ventures gained a strong boost in October 2023 when the company acquired the cloud streaming rights for Call of Duty and all other current and future Activision Blizzard games outside of the EU for the next 15 years. This deal was part of Microsoft’s several concessions to regulators to finalize its January 2022 acquisition of gaming giant Activision Blizzard. This deal also means that Activision Blizzard games will now be available on the company’s subscription service, Ubisoft Plus, drawing in new potential customers.
