Ubisoft is optimistic for Assassin's Creed: Shadows despite confirming more layoffs

Ubisoft has released its financial report for the nine months ending December 31, 2024, and it shows a steady decline across the board for the once esteemed company.

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Ubisoft was a company once known for its big AAA hits, but it has unfortunately slowly fallen from grace, and the company's recent financial results, along with its stock price, directly reflect that. For the nine months ending December 31, 2024, Ubisoft's revenue was €990 million ($1.07 billion USD), which was down 31.4% year-on-year. Net bookings for the company over that period were down 34.8% and accounted for €944 million ($1.02 billion USD), along with digital net bookings being down 33.8%, or €784 million ($850 million USD). Lastly, back-catalogue net bookings were down 27.7% at €762.3 million ($827 million USD).

Despite these significant declines, GamesIndustry.biz reports Ubisoft remains optimistic about its performance for the next quarter, as it will have released Assassin's Creed: Shadows on March 20, and according to Ubisoft CFO Frederick Duguet, pre-sales for the title are "tracking solidly" and are in-line with Assassin's Creed Odyssey - one of Ubisoft's most successful releases ranking second in terms of revenue behind Valhalla, which was the first Assassin's Creed game to pull in $1 billion in revenue.

"Early previews have been positive, praising its [Assassin's Creed: Shadows] narrative and immersive experience, with both characters playing critical roles in the game's storyline, as well as the quality and complementarity of the gameplay provided by the dual protagonist approach," said Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot

While Ubisoft anticipates Assassin's Creed: Shadows will perform to its expectations, the company also announced further plans for "targeted restructuring," which translates to layoffs. Ubisoft has already closed down two production studios and let go of nearly 300 employees.

"As a result of disciplined execution, we have announced further targeted restructuring, making difficult but necessary choices," said Guillemot. "[We] now expect to exceed our cost reduction plan by the end of FY25, ahead of schedule. We plan to pursue our efforts in FY26, going beyond the initial target by a significant margin."