Ubisoft 24-25 half-year results plummet as Star Wars Outlaws "underperforms"

Ubisoft has released its results for the six months for the first half of the financial year, claiming a "solid underlying performance of back-catalogue highlighting the strength of brand portfolio and live services" despite sales slumping down 19.6% year-on-year to €672 million.

The company states its cost reduction program is "well on track" and its review of its "player-centric and gameplay-first approach" is progressing, taking actions "aimed at tackling the dynamics behind the polarised comments around Ubisoft so as to protect the Group’s reputation and maximise our game’s sales potential."

The company says both the Assassin's Creed franchise and Rainbow Six Siege "both benefited from strong audiences, with more than 30m unique active users each."

Ubisoft also revealed its global headcount has tumbled "more than" 2000 employees, claiming its cost reduction program is "well on track."

The numbers

For the six months ending September 30, 2024 (Q1):

• Sales: €672 million (down 19.6% year-on-year)
• Net bookings: €642 million (down 21.9%)
• Digital net bookings: 527 million (down 26.5%)
• Back-catalogue net bookings: 494 million (down 28.95%)

The highlights

Net bookings for the second quarter stood at €352m, and whilst back-catalogue net bookings are down year-on-year, they were up 12% for the second quarter.

Playtime and Session Days are up respectively 9% and 6% year-on-year, with MAUs standing at 37 million, up 3% year-on-year, which includes "close to 3m" new accounts per month.

Ubisoft admitted sales of Star Wars Outlaws has "underperformed expectations" despite achieving "solid reviews and user scores across First Party and Epic Stores."

In a statement, CEO Yves Guillemot said: "Despite recent setbacks, we are continuing to deeply transform Ubisoft in order to restore the level of creativity and innovation that built Ubisoft’s success while delivering stronger execution and predictability.

"To succeed, we must redouble our focus on execution and reinforce a player-centric mindset in everything we do," he added. "For example, we are improving the quality of Star Wars Outlaws, including actively addressing player feedback through title updates as we get ready for the Steam launch, the first story pack, and the upcoming holiday season. We are also taking the additional time to ensure that the upcoming very ambitious opus in our flagship franchise, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, is a highly polished, exceptional experience on day one and that it resonates strongly with players.

"Over the past semester, we also further advanced our cost reduction plan thanks to strict control on recruitments, targeted restructurings and lower external spend. This is the fruit of a group-wide effort, and I would like to thank the teams as we are transforming the Company into a more efficient and agile organization. Over the first semester, we have already achieved more than €200m savings versus two years ago on an annualized basis. There still remains work to be done to support robust cash-flow generation in the future."

Guillemot added that the Executive Committee's review of a "player-centric and gameplay-first approach" is progressing, including actions "aimed at tackling the dynamics behind the polarised comments around Ubisoft so as to protect the Group’s reputation and maximise our game’s sales potential."

Lifetime sales of its tentpole franchises were also disclosed, with the Assassin’s Creed franchise generating around €4bn over the last decade, Rainbow Six Siege over €3.5bn, and Far Cry around €2bn. Including The Division, Ghost Recon and Just Dance, Ubisoft has six brands that have surpassed €1bn in consumer spending.