Strategic point – Zonebourse

Thursday 09th January 2025 01:07 PM

PRESS RELEASE

Ubisoft.com

Strategic point

Paris, January 9, 2025 – Following the strategic and operational review initiated a few months ago by the Executive Committee, Ubisoft announces that it has taken significant measures to reorganize the Group in order to offer the best possible experiences to players, improve the Group’s operational efficiency and maximize value creation.

Ubisoft today announces that it has engaged leading advisors to study and pursue various transformative strategic and capital options, in order to extract the best possible value for stakeholders. This process will be carried out under the supervision of independent members of the board of directors. Ubisoft will notify the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction goes through.

Operationally, the Company will continue to implement significant cost reductions, while adopting a highly selective approach to investments, and now expects to exceed €200 million in reduction of its fixed cost base. by FY 2025-26 compared to FY 2022-23, on an annualized basis. In December 2024, Ubisoft announced the cessation of development of XDefiant and the closure of three production studios located in high-cost geographies.

Additionally, as part of the increased focus on quality gameplay and providing players with engaging experiences from day one, it was decided to give Assassin’s Creed an additional month of development. Shadows. This additional time will allow us to better integrate player feedback collected over the past three months, and create the best possible conditions for the game’s launch, continuing to collaborate closely with the increasingly positive Assassin’s Creed community. The game is now scheduled for release on March 20.

Net bookings for the third quarter of the 2024-25 financial year are now expected to be around €300 million, mainly reflecting lower than expected holiday sales, notably for Star Wars Outlaws, as well as XDefiant shutdown.

Ubisoft still forecasts non-IFRS operating profit and free cash flow close to breakeven for the 2024-25 financial year. Net bookings are now expected to be around 1.9 billion euros and include new partnership opportunities for Ubisoft games and franchises as well as for the monetization of streaming rights acquired during the last financial year.

Yves Guillemot, co-founder and managing director, declares: “ We have made solid progress in the strategic and operational review initiated a few months ago, which will allow us to look with confidence to a more solid future for Ubisoft. We have taken significant steps to reorganize the Group to deliver the best possible player experience, improve operational efficiencies and maximize value creation. We have also recently retained leading advisors and are actively exploring various strategic and capital options to unlock the full value potential of our assets. We are indeed convinced that there are several possible paths to generating value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises.

In addition, we fully support our teams’ efforts to create the most ambitious Assassin’s Creed installment in the franchise and have made the decision to grant an additional month of development to Shadows in order to better integrate player feedback collected during the course. of the last three months. This will allow us to deliver the game’s full potential and end the year on a strong note. »

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Conference call

For more information, the Group will hold a conference call today, Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 6:15 p.m. Paris time/5:15 p.m. London time/12:15 p.m. New York time. The conference call will take place in English and will be accessible live and recorded at the following link: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/pa8mfr7x

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Contacts
Investor Relations

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Emmanuel Carre
Press Officer
+33 1 48 18 50 91 [email protected]

Disclaimer
This release may contain estimated financial data, information about future projects and operations, or future financial performance. These projection elements are given as objectives. They are subject to market risks and uncertainties and may vary considerably from the actual results which will be published. The estimated financial data were approved by the Board of Directors and were not reviewed by the Statutory Auditors. (Additional information appears in Ubisoft’s Universal Registration Document, filed on June 20, 2024 with the Financial Markets Authority).

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a world creator committed to enriching players’ lives through unique and memorable gaming experiences. Its international teams create and develop a diverse portfolio of games, including brands such as Assassin’s Creed®, Brawlhalla®, For Honor®, Far Cry®, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon®, Just Dance®, RabbidsTM, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®, The Crew® and Tom Clancy’s The Division®. Thanks to Ubisoft Connect, players benefit from an ecosystem of services to take their gaming experience further, obtain rewards and stay in touch with their friends regardless of their platform. The Ubisoft+ subscription offer also allows them to benefit from a catalog of more than a hundred titles and downloadable content (DLC) from Ubisoft. For the 2023-24 financial year, Ubisoft’s net bookings amounted to 2.32 billion euros. For more information, visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.