2022 proved to be a tough year for Ubisoft, with much of their prominent franchise titles underperforming despite the significant investment the game company put into them. This lack of success has led to Ubisoft delaying and even canceling some of their future projects in an in their updated plans for the new fiscal year. Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft Co-Founder and CEO, expressed disappointment in today’s press release, noting the surprising underperformance of certain titles and the recent challenges Ubisoft faces in the video game market.
“…We are facing contrasted market dynamics as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and everlasting live games, in the context of worsening economic conditions affecting consumer spending” said Guillemot. “Despite excellent ratings and players’ reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January. Just Dance 2023 underperformed as well. Therefore, with the approval of the Board of Directors, we are taking additional important strategic and operational decisions today. It is key to continue adapting our organization, to further strengthen our execution and to ensure we both deliver amazing games to players as well as great value creation….”
Ubisoft plans to adapt through the new year by focusing on brand building and live services. This has led to the company canceling “…three unannounced projects,” adding on to the four other canceled projects previously in July 2022. Ubisoft also announced that it would depreciating €500m of research and development going into premium and Free-to-Play games and its canceled titles as they focus on developing fewer titles in hopes of reducing costs in the new year.
Skull & Bones, one of Ubisoft’s anticipated titles, wasn’t safe from Ubisoft’s changes. It received its sixth delay and is now expected to release sometime in the 2023-24 fiscal year, leaving Ubisoft more time to showcase a more polished version for upcoming players. Other games that are expected to release in the upcoming fiscal year include Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and other unannounced premium games and free-to-play titles from some of their biggest brands.