Ubisoft's earnings for first half of 2024-2025 didn't live up to expectations, but CEO Yves Guillemot said the studio can come back with a “player-centric, gameplay-focused approach.”
For the six-month period ending September 30, 2024, net bookings totaled €642.3 million (or $697.8 million), down 21.9% compared to the first half of 2023-2024. Of this, 352.3 million euros came from the second quarter, down 36.5% compared to the second quarter of last year. Despite this, quarterly earnings are said to be in line with Ubisoft's revised guidance.
According to Guillemot, Ubisoft is trying to “address the dynamics” behind the recent “polarized comments”, in an effort to “protect [our] reputation and maximize the sales potential of our games.” Earlier this year, Guillemot sued the racist reaction around Assassin's Creed Shadowsthen he seemed to retrace his steps September, saying that Ubisoft has no goal “to promote any specific agenda.”
The “player-centric mentality” will continue Star Wars Outlawswhich Ubisoft said had previously underperformed commercially. Along with post-launch fixes and DLC, the game will release on Steam in November, which the company hopes will “engage a broad audience this holiday season and position the game as a strong long-term performer.”
Meanwhile, previous catalog releases (excluding partnerships) grew 12% compared to last year. The old games with live service like The crew series AND Republic of the Knights were praised for their growth during the second quarter: the former experienced “strong growth” and attracted over 8 million players, while the sports simulation surpassed 10 million players after its release on Xbox Game Pass.
Rainbow Six Siege and the frequent Assassin's Creed games repeat drivers for Ubisoft's back catalogue, they are said to have had over 30 million active users each in the last 12 months. In total, Ubisoft attracted 138 million unique players across PC and consoles over this time frame, up 4% from 2023-2024.
Guillemot further stated that Ubisoft's main focus is on Assassin's Creed Shadows and ensure it is “a highly polished and exceptional experience from day one and resonates strongly with players.” As per previous reports by a potential acquisition with Tencenthe reiterated, the company is “reviewing all its strategic options.”