Ubisoft's been singing of the success that Assassin's Creed Shadows garnered at its launch in March, and that's not stopping in the company's latest financial results. It seems plans to launch a new Tencent-backed subsidiary that's basically going to be Ubisoft 2 are "progressing steadily," too.
CEO Yves Guillemot acknowledged "mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition" in the company's FY25 earnings release. The company is reporting net bookings "slightly below" its objective, and while it'd be easy to point at disappointing Star Wars Outlaws sales as the prime culprit, Ubisoft says the downturn is "mainly reflecting lower than expected partnerships, notably due to a timing impact."
"Aware of the challenges ahead, we took decisive steps to continue strengthening the company’s future," Guillemot said. "The launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows was a defining moment. It reaffirmed the power of the Assassin’s Creed brand, with a highly favorable community response from long-time fans and new players alike."
Ubisoft reported in March that Shadows marked the second-biggest launch in Assassin's Creed history, behind only Valhalla – which released in the midst of the Covid pandemic that had the world desperate for games to get lost in. In today's release, the company makes is explicit about Shadows having "clearly outperformed Assassin's Creed Odyssey."
Shortly after the release of Shadows, Ubisoft announced the creation of a new subsidiary backed by Tecent that will "spearhead development" on new Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games. Think of it as a sort of sequel to Ubisoft that'll take over the company's biggest games.
In today's statement, Guillemot said that this is a "major step" in what's set to be a "profound transformation" for the company. "Focused on accelerating the growth of three of our most iconic IPs," he continued, "this new subsidiary will play a pivotal role in building evergreen, billion-euro brand ecosystems. We are progressing steadily toward the closing of the transaction by year-end, a key milestone that will fully deleverage the Company and position us for sustainable, long-term growth."
Notably, the company also plans to "provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions." In other words, the Shadows delay worked out, so other big games are getting delayed, too. The only question is which upcoming Ubisoft games are going to be affected.
There's plenty more ahead on the Assassin's Creed Shadows roadmap.
