Paris (awp/afp) – French video game giant Ubisoft fell in early trading on the Paris Stock Exchange on Friday, after the group, engulfed in a strategic crisis, announced disappointing Christmas sales and a new postponement of its flagship game Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Around 9:30 a.m., the Ubisoft share price fell 7.87% to 11.36 euros. Over twelve rolling months, the group’s value on the stock market has fallen by almost 50%.
Thursday, after the stock market closed, the group announced that it had recorded “lower than expected sales during the end-of-year holidays” of its game in the Star Wars universe.
Faced with “lower than expected sales during the end-of-year holidays” of its game in the Star Wars universe and the premature end of its online shooter “XDefiant”, Ubisoft said it was considering ” various strategic and capital options” for the future.
“We have started a process with advisors, it’s one more step,” said Frédérick Duguet, CFO of Ubisoft. “Ubisoft will inform the market (…) if and once a transaction materializes,” the company said.
-The publisher, which employed 18,666 employees worldwide at the end of September and around 4,000 in France, is the subject of takeover rumors which have multiplied in recent months, notably by the Chinese tech giant Tencent and the Guillemot family.
Tencent, with whom the Guillemot brothers have sealed a union in 2022 to keep control of the company, holds nearly 10% of the capital. The Guillemot family owns around 15%.
Several options would be on the table, including a buyout and an exit from the stock market.
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