As the global video game market…
While the global video game market fell by 7% in 2022, the nugget created by the Guillemot brothers warned investors that its 2022-2023 revenues (officially presented at the end of March) will fall by 10%. Ubisoft’s management was rather counting on a growth of 10%.
200 million euros in savings within two years
During his last communication to investors (January 12, 2023), Yves Guillemot, the CEO, could only note the commercial underperformance of the latest version of the game “Mario + The Rabbids” as well as that of ” Just Dance 2023”, “despite large marketing investments”.
“The studio is suffering from the recession affecting our market,” said an industry expert. “Ubisoft produces games that are generally sold around 70 euros, which is the high price range. Currently, while player budgets are stretching, it is the games that are the subject of postponement of purchases. But beware, the publisher is solid, ”continues the latter.
The economic situation alone probably does not explain the publisher’s current poor performance. Since 2020, Ubisoft has recorded the departure of many important executives. The company had to urgently reorganize its top management. So many events that have weakened it in a sector that has been engaged, for several years, in terms of human resources, in a real “war for talents”.
Bordeaux protected by “Assassin’s Creed”?
However, if it marks time and sees its title fall heavily on the stock market, Ubisoft remains indeed solid. And has a cash position of more than 1.5 billion euros. To cope with the economic slowdown, the publisher with 20,000 employees worldwide is committed to reducing its costs by 200 million euros at the end of the next two years.
“We will do this through targeted restructuring, asset disposals. Ubisoft will continue to recruit highly talented people,” promises Yves Guillemot.
The worst difficulties encountered by the publisher since its creation in 1986 may not have an impact on the Bordeaux studio. The Girondin site, which currently has 260 employees, is developing the new version of the best-seller mondial « Assassin’s Creed » with the 13e opus, « Mirage ».