Ubisoft outperform targets as back-catalogue, digital, and bookings all increase in Q1 24-25

Ubisoft has released its results for the first three months of the financial year, stating the quarter was "marked by strong session days of growth of 15 percent across consoles and PC, mostly driven by games-as-a-service" (GaaS).

Ubisoft specifically cited XDefiant's 10m player milestone as an "encouraging start", as well as Rainbow Six Siege, which "kicked off the year with a strong performance." In all, its monthly active users (MAU) jumped by 7 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 38m.

The publisher's Q1 results were further boosted by Assassin's Creed Shadows pre-orders – which "overperformed" by also driving sales of older games in the franchise – and The Crew Motorfest's "strong momentum and solid engagement." It also saw a 24.6 per cent boost in its player recurring investment (PRI) to 158.7 million.

Here's what you need to know:

The numbers

For the three months ending June 30, 2024 (Q1):

• Sales: €323.5 million (up 12.0% year-on-year)
• Net bookings: €290.0 million (up 8.3%)
• Digital net bookings: 257.2 million (up 6.6%)
• Back-catalogue net bookings: 249.5 million (up 1.5%)

The highlights

Consoles continue to be Ubisoft's biggest market share, accounting for 50 percent of its net bookings in Q1 2024-25 (unchanged from Q1 2023-24), whilst PC players have fallen from 31 percent to 27 percent.

Mobile games net bookings are flat YoY, but Ubisoft's "others" income streams, which encapsulates ancillary sales, have increased from 9 to 13 percent YoY.

Net bookings broken down by region are fairly flat year-on-year, with players in Europe, North America, and the rest of the world accounting for 32, 53, and 15 per cent, respectively.

Expansion packs slated for release in quarter two – July-September 2024 – include Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora: The Sky Breaker Story Pack and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Mask of Darkness DLC.

Full releases across the same period include Monopoly 2024 and Star Wars Outlaws.

New seasons are also on the way for Riders Republic, For Honor, The Crew Motorfest, Skull and Bones, Rainbow Six Siege, and XDefiant.

Second-quarter net bookings are estimated to be around €500 million, whilst the full 2024-25 line-up includes Assassin's Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws.

Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence are "no longer expected in FY25 as the teams are taking the necessary time to ensure that these experiences deliver on expectations with optimised KPIs in the context of a demanding yet very large market."

"In a selective market, we delivered a solid start to the year with net bookings above target, reaffirming that we are on the right track," said Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft's co-founder and CEO.

"The quarter notably saw the launch of XDefiant, that is off to an encouraging start as we continue to grow the audience at a steady pace and plan a quarterly roadmap of content that will allow us to firmly establish the game over time. We also held Ubisoft Forward, that is always a key event for our teams and players, during which we showcased content that is very much aligned with our strategic focus on our two key verticals, Open World Adventures and GaaS-native experiences.

"The gameplay we presented for our two highly anticipated upcoming premium titles, Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, was not only praised by players and critics alike but also highlighted the cutting-edge capabilities of our game engines. We also presented a strong pipeline of content that will continue feeding our Live titles.

"As we progress through FY25, all our efforts are focused on successfully launching our promising new releases and positioning them as long-lasting value drivers for Ubisoft while continuing the transformation of our organization. We are excited about the future and confident in the sustained progress of our turnaround throughout the year."