Stab-o-sneak merchants Ubisoft are pushing back the release of several unspecified big name projects in the wake of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which CEO Yves Guillemot says “has reaffirmed the power of the Assassin’s Creed brand”. The tactical snoop ‘n’ shoot peddlers are also looking to cut costs by at least €100 million across their organisation, following a difficult year in which they’ve partnered with Tencent to launch a new corporate subsidiary dedicated to their most popular games.
“This year has been a challenging one for Ubisoft, with mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition,” observed Guillemot in Ubi’s latest earnings results, adding that the company’s overall earnings for the past year are “slightly below objective”. He says they’re in a strong position regardless thanks to the “discipline applied across the Group”, which presumably includes those mass layoffs in January, amongst other cutbacks. According to the earnings call, Ubisoft have shrunk their staff headcount by “around 3,000” since the end of September 2022.
By “discipline”, Guillemot is also probably referring to Ubisoft’s repeated delaying of Assassin’s Creed Shadows to ensure a more positive reception than that achieved by last year’s Star Wars Outlaws. He says the delay has paid off, with Shadows having the second highest launch day revenue of any game in the series. “The launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was a defining moment,” the Ubiboss continued. “It reaffirmed the power of the Assassin’s Creed brand, with a highly favourable community response from long-time fans and new players alike.”
Guillemot says Ubisoft have completed their cost-cutting plans “ahead of schedule”. Still, management remain focussed on “discipline”, with plans for “additional savings of at least €100m over the next two years to drive structural efficiencies and reinforce the foundations of our organization”. So, more job losses then?
Ubisoft are also still completing the creation of their new Tencent-backed subsidiary, which will oversee development of future Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games. We can expect a “new organisation” to be announced later this year. The publishers have also “decided to provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success”, which means that “[Financial Year] 2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands.”
The rest of Ubisoft’s 2025 and early 2026 will look relatively trim by comparison. On PC, we can expect Anno 117: Pax Romana and Heroes Of Might And Magic: Olden Era, together with expansions for Assassin’s Creed Shadows and, just possibly, the Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time remake.
An accompanying slideshow presentation maintains Ubisoft’s commitment to the two wolves that lurk inside every triple-A game company – “open world adventures” and “GaaS-native experiences”, aka live service games. They want to both “improve the quality of narrative-driven solo experiences” and serve up “richer multiplayer features with more frequent content updates”.
I don’t see any mention here of “disciplining” executive salaries and compensation, but to give the Devil his due, Guillemot has taken paycuts over poor company performance in the past.
