Ubisoft Q3 Sales Revenue Plummets by 47.5% Year-on-Year in 2025
Following a dramatic year-on-year drop of 47.5% in sales revenue to €318.1 million in the third quarter ending in December, Ubisoft has established an independent committee to oversee the French video games publisher’s formal and competitive processes.
The total sales revenue for the first three quarters fell by 31.4% to a total of €990 million, and much of the fiscal recovery will depend on the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows later this year.
“We are fully focused on the upcoming launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on March 20,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, said in the company’s latest sales report, and added: “In parallel, we are progressing well on our cost reduction program. As a result of disciplined execution, we have announced further targeted restructurings, making difficult but necessary choices.”
Reasons For Ubisoft’s Significant Decline
In the third quarter of the fiscal year ending in March 2024, Ubisoft sales figures stood at a robust €606.4 million. The significant decline has been attributed to a few key factors. Firstly, the release of Star Wars Outlaws was not as well-received as the company had hoped, and only sold about 1 million units during its first month of release.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ initial release planned for November 2024 was postponed until February 2025, and again to March 20, 2025, meaning that the lucrative holiday sales were completely missed.
When the anticipated title was initially postponed, and the new release date of Feb. 14 was announced, the company said in a statement that: “While the game is feature complete, the learnings from the Star Wars Outlaws release led us to provide additional time to further polish the title.”
“This will enable the biggest entry in the franchise to fully deliver on its ambition, notably by fulfilling the promise of our dual protagonist adventure, with Naoe and Yasuke bringing two very different gameplay styles.”
Then, on Jan. 9, 2025, it was announced that the game would be further postponed for more development, Guillemot said in a company statement that taking player feedback into consideration would allow for a better final version of the game.
Ubisoft also shut down XDefiant, a free-to-pay shooter because of the game’s unsustainably low player base. The decision led to closing down two production studios and laying off close to 300 employees. Shutting down this project resulted in immediate financial losses and made the company look like it can’t handle a new game venture.
Tightening The Belt And Revising Targets
Ubisoft plans to cut its fixed cost by more than €200 million by the end of the 2024-25 fiscal year. This is from the back of closing four production studios in expensive locations and restructuring a further three sites.
“Finally, the formal review process of our strategic options announced earlier this year is now ongoing. Ultimately, the objective is to unlock the best value from our assets for our stakeholders and to foster the best conditions to create great games in a fast-evolving market. We are convinced there are different potential paths to achieve this ambition,” the CEO said in the Q3 sales report.
