Ubisoft had a rough 2024. It was a year where nothing seemed to go right. Their game releases fell flat. Some of their flagship titles that should be driving sales left fans disinterested after a few months of playing. It wasn’t just poorly made games. The studio also experienced delays in releases like Assassin’s Creed Shadows. There were marketing blunders and ideas floated that angered gamers worldwide. The news keeps getting worse for the company as the Q3 numbers have been released and are not good.
Ubisoft Q3 Sales Take A Nosedive
In a report released by Ubisoft, customer revenue decreased 47.5% compared to last year. Net bookings were even worse, with an astounding 51.8% year-on-year decline. It doesn’t matter which way you slice it. The company took a huge hit in Q3, continuing a downward trend that isn’t sustainable. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that a section in the report is entitled “Ubisoft’s Cost Reduction Plan.” They have already started to make cuts in the company. XDefiant, one of the failed projects of the year, has been shut down, saving the company millions of dollars.
Four production studios have shuttered their doors, which cuts down on staffing and overhead. The studio has stated they are ahead of schedule and look to turn a profit in the coming year. However, they have to hit on some of their big titles. This past year, Skull and Bones was a massive investment that fell flat with gamers. Ubisoft hoped Star Wars Outlaws would bring in a massive fan base, but players haven’t engaged with the game in the way the studio thought. This puts pressure on their next big release.
Pressure On Assassin’s Creed Shadows
The newest installment in the series shouldn’t be a complete flop. Ubisoft has built a loyal fanbase with the Assassin’s Creed games, and this one is set in 16th century Japan, an era fans have desired for years. Pre-orders have already started and are on par with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, one of the most successful games in the franchise. Furthermore, the first reviews are in and have been positive. The gameplay has a different feel, and Ubisoft has added new elements to the stealth play. PC Gaming’s Morgan Park had this to say about the gameplay.
“The dynamic lighting is just as cool as I hoped—that Splinter Cell visibility meter adds welcome complexity and expression to sneaking. At night, compounds aren’t just obstacle courses of hay bales and waist-high cover, but projections of hazardous light and malleable shadows charting a safe path to my goals. My gut says Shadows is the strongest stealth package in 18 years of Assassin’s Creed. But a bigger surprise was how much fun I also had charging barricaded doors, cleaving through unarmored ronin, and shrugging off glancing blows as Shadows’ historical Black samurai.”
This is good news for Ubisoft. It doesn’t mean they have a billion-dollar hit on their hands. The opinions of reviewers and the opinions of actual gamers are often different. Still, it doesn’t take away from the early buzz being positive. The issue is the studio doesn’t just need this game to be a hit. They need it to be one of the best-selling games in studio history. That is a lot of pressure to put on one title, even one from a fan-favorite franchise.
Final Thoughts
Ubisoft has some work to do. Even if Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a massive hit, they still have to show they can make big-budget games that people want to play. March 20 is an important date for the studio and will give us a hint of whether more layoffs are coming or whether the company can turn things around in 2025.
