Ubisoft says it has postponed a number of of its “largest productions” presently in growth with the intention to grant them extra time within the oven, after beforehand delaying Murderer’s Creed Shadows with the intention to present additional polish.
Precisely which video games these are was not named by Ubisoft throughout its monetary outcomes broadcast immediately, although in an investor name listened to by Eurogamer, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot urged the impacted titles got here from the writer’s high 5 manufacturers – Murderer’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, The Division and Ghost Recon.
Guillemot stated 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 overview of our pipeline, now we have determined to offer further growth time to a few of our largest productions with the intention to create the most effective circumstances for achievement,” Guillemot stated immediately in a press release. “As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see important 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 Cellular 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 huge X replace in June. (There isn’t any 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 as a result of a timing affect”.
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 averted offering a brand new gross sales determine for the sport immediately, although stated 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. Right this moment, Ubisoft stated Shadows had now recorded 160m gameplay hours throughout all gamers to this point. What number of gamers? Ubisoft is not saying, and hasn’t offered a recent determine because the sport handed 3 million gamers every week after launch.
The Murderer’s Creed model as a complete had “round 30 million distinctive gamers” for the fourth consecutive yr, Ubisoft stated, 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 stated it had succeeded in trimming €200m from its mounted prices forward of time, with a lowered headcount now at 17,782 folks. That is a lower of 3000 folks from September 2022, as a result of layoffs and decreased recruitment. Over the subsequent two years, Ubisoft is now aiming to chop an additional €100m, Guillemot stated.
“This yr has been a difficult one for Ubisoft, with blended dynamics throughout our portfolio, amid intense business competitors,” Guillemot continued. “Regardless of these headwinds, Ubisoft managed to ship constructive free money movement 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 value financial savings program forward of schedule. We’re dedicated to going additional, with further financial savings of not less than €100m over the subsequent 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 can home the corporate’s largest three manufacturers – Murderer’s Creed, Rainbow Six and Far Cry – might be laid out later this yr, Ubisoft stated.
That stated, Ubisoft stated immediately that this new group will give attention to “bettering the standard of narrative-driven solo experiences”, “increasing reside service choices with richer multiplayer options and extra frequent content material updates”, and focusing on “underpenetrated markets resembling cellular and China”.
And in different information, Ubisoft’s movie and tv division has introduced a Riders Republic film, with Dangerous Boys for Life administrators Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah signed as much as work on the mission.
