After publishing record numbers in last year’s Q1 at the start of the pandemic, Ubisoft’s sales are down 17% in the first quarter of its new fiscal year.
Expanding Offerings: Ubisoft has re-confirmed its plans from earlier this year, stating that they plan to “expand premium offerings” through “ambitious plans for [their] biggest existing franchises”, “new IP creation with a focus on long term player engagement”, and the help of “major entertainment brands to broaden [their] portfolio”. The France-based publisher goes on to state that they look to bring their games to a significantly wider audience “through F2P on consoles, PC and mobile”. In addition to this breakdown, Ubisoft also gave us a look at how their investments are currently broken down: 80% targeted at premium AAA offerings, 20% on free-to-play games.
Listen Up: A few other ear-catching details were scattered throughout the call. Rainbow Six Siege has broken the 75 million player mark. Ubisoft believes that Assassin’s Creed Infinity will stay true to the narrative experience of the franchise, while expanding the brand in a new way. Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in the works, but no release timing is ready to be given just yet. A new to-be-announced F2P mobile game is targeting a Q4 2021-2022 release.
Looking Ahead: Ubisoft is forecasting a stronger second quarter showing with estimated net bookings around $400 million, down just over 1% in the year-over-year comparison. The publisher expects to continue to grow throughout the remainder of the year, targeting single-digit growth in net bookings by the end of the fiscal calendar.
