Ubisoft told how the third financial quarter of 2022 went (ended December 31). It was not very successful — almost all key indicators fell compared to last year. Yves Guillemot also stated that he is not against the French publisher becoming part of another company in the future.
Assassin’s Creed ValhallaMain figures
- Quarterly sales (calculated in accordance with the IFRS standard) amounted to €665.9 million. This is 31% less compared to the third quarter of fiscal 2021.
- Net receipts (net bookings) fell by 25.5% to €746.1 million.
- Most of the proceeds (71%) came from digital sales — €530.2 million. Although the share of “digit” increased by 12.2 percentage points over the year, the volume of digital revenues decreased (in the third quarter of last year, “digit” brought Ubisoft €588.4 million).
- 35.3% of digital revenues (€187.1 million) came from the sale of additional content in games.
- The games released before the reporting period provided the French publisher with 45.6% of revenues — €340.8 million. Growth by 10.4% in annual terms.
- Consoles are Ubisoft’s most moneyed platform. Among consoles, the PS4/PS5 accounted for the most revenue (29%). They are followed by Xbox consoles (16%). The Nintendo Switch closes the top three (14%).
- PC was responsible for another 29% of receipts, and mobile — for 7%.
- The largest market remained North America, which, like last year, provided 48% of revenues.
Data on individual games
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla surpassed its predecessor Assassin’s Creed Odyssey in a number of indicators. For example, engagement in it turned out to be 30% higher, sales of the game itself — by 70%, and income from microtransactions and DLC — by 80%.
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege has reached 80 million unique players – 10 million of them have joined in the last 12 months.
- The audience of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction was 5 million unique players.
- According to the company’s estimates, Far Cry 6 entered the top five most popular new products of 2021. Ubisoft also indicated that the duration of gaming sessions in Far Cry 6 is 45% higher than in Far Cry 5. The income of this part of the franchise from the sale of additional content is also 30% higher.
- In Riders Republic, users also spend more time than in Steep. The difference is 60%.
- In the next fiscal year, Ubisoft plans to release at least three major games: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Skull & Bones.
Although Ubisoft forecasts “very strong growth” in the fourth quarter, it does not expect much from the entire fiscal 2022. During a conversation with investors, the company’s chief financial officer, Frédéric Duguet, noted that it would probably be possible to achieve only the lower limit of the projected results.
Now Ubisoft expects that by the end of the year its operating profit excluding IFRS will amount to €420-500 million. Recall that last year she earned €473.3 million.
Also, in a conversation with investors, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said that his company “can continue to remain independent.” But if there is an offer to sell Ubisoft, the board of directors will consider it. At the same time, when Vivendi tried to buy the publisher in 2015, Guillemot was categorically against the takeover, calling independence one of the main success factors.