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[StreetsofBeige]

Overall it doesn't look good with that many many employees and borrowing money. I'd guess they have to downsize and get some excitement in the shooter space.

According to a google check, only MS has more gaming employees. Although that number includes Activision.

To be fair, employee count can be fudged pending how many contractors a company hires. Contractors arent counted as official head count. If anyone knows what the total "worker" count is for each big company that would be a more accurate number. But official employee count is still important t know since they are FT with benefits, severance payouts if fired, and bonuses paid. Typically they will cost more than a contract worker who can do temp gigs.

UBI at about 19,000 employees is insane. MS is at 20,000+ with Activision. UBI has more than even EA and Sony. If MS and Activision were still separate, UBI would have the most employees in the industry.

When times are good, any company can float high head count. But once things tank, get ready for those huge layoff costs.

For sake of a random calculation, if UBI cut 4,000 people to get to 15,000, and the avg person got $30,000 severance, that's $120M alone.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

It has nothing to do with that.

I don't think it's the only factor, but to suggest their ideological shift and insistence isn't relevant.. I'm not so sure about that.

 

[Bradamante3D]

How are they any different from EA, Take Two etc?

The difference is that EA has stable financial income due to their annual release sports titles, and Take Two of course is behind popular brands a la Grand Theft Auto. I wouldn't be surprised if 2025 is the final year for Ubisoft in one way shape or form, where they either declare bankruptcy outright; or they get bought after the stock price plummets; or they split into multiple subsidiaries, with some going bankrupt.

Anyway, the facts and arguments made in the article that the OP links to, are well made and mostly already known. Skull and Bones was too expensive, that could be seen as the beginning of the end. Let's add some from the top of my head:

_ Absurdely high development costs in French speaking countries/cities, i.e. France, French Canada etc.
_ Lack of a franchise with predictable annual income; the closest Ubisoft ever had were those dance games of course
_ Focus on IP's like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, while not evolving their concepts or title characters, riding their limited formula to the grave
_ Generic "tower based" open world designs applied to multiple IPs
_ Lack of focus on games that are cheaper to develop, have a better defined audience, smaller scope, but can grow out of a niche, i.e. For Honor
_ Lukewarm, unfocused stage presentations at E3, with weird feel good moments on stage with their own developers, instead of wow-ing audiences with a few good titles
_ Lack of a title character in Ubisoft games that can carry audiences from game to game (Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, Nathan Drake, Aloy etc.)

 

[simpatico]

They are barely woke man stop the hyperbole

CHALLENGE: Scrub to any time in this "all cutscenes" Watch Dogs Legion video and find me one single moment that is not the wokest thing you're ever seen.



Ubi really deserves it. I get that it's kinda sad, but we just need to let nature take its course. Don't be sad they're gone, be happy they were here.

 

[MMaRsu]

CHALLENGE: Scrub to any time in this "all cutscenes" Watch Dogs Legion video and find me one single moment that is not the wokest thing you're ever seen.



Ubi really deserves it. I get that it's kinda sad, but we just need to let nature take its course. Don't be sad they're gone, be happy they were here.

Did not play Legion thankfully but Im sure its terrible

 

[Ozriel]

2 x parts

Go woke go broke

What was ‘woke’ about xDefiant, immortals Fenix Rising, Avatar, Skull and Bones and the bulk of their games?

 

[Robot Carnival]

didn't they lean hard into NFT or something when it was already going downhill? how much of those investments woulda helped if it's used in a better way?

 

[kruis]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

I believe most people dont give a shit about any ethnic celebration, but many companies jam it in for optics, or to satisfy the small number of vocal employees for bitch and moan about it.

I'm 100% confident when it comes to any kind of holiday, special recognition day or month, people care more about whether there's free lunch that day or if it's a federal day off than the actual content.

It's like Cinco De Mayo. Our company will order for the entire floor tacos, spanish rice and churros. Great food. Everyone loves it. I highly doubt anyone knows jack shit what the holiday or event is even about. All people know is May 5th is Mexican food day.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

Ubi will never die, it will live in our hearts.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

This. Nobody in Europe gives a flying fuck, they find it creepy and patronising. Reminds me of (I think) French black minister when she mentioned how she was unaware of her blackness till she came to the US and studied there. People were like: “Bitch, you got brainwashed, it’s not what you think it is lol”.

 

[winjer]

 

[Plague Doctor]

I believe most people dont give a shit about any ethnic celebration, but many companies jam it in for optics, or to satisfy the small number of vocal employees for bitch and moan about it.

I'm 100% confident when it comes to any kind of holiday, special recognition day or month, people care more about whether there's free lunch that day or if it's a federal day off than the actual content.

It's like Cinco De Mayo. Our company will order for the entire floor tacos, spanish rice and churros. Great food. Everyone loves it. I highly doubt anyone knows jack shit what the holiday or event is even about. All people know is May 5th is Mexican food day.

The other to consider is that it's low hanging fruit content for marketing and by extension social media.

It's an easy space filler and the execs expect it. Marketing will leap on this as validation they are indeed working to their management.

It's 'nontent' at the end of the day that isn't pushing the needle for anything aside from keeping a small quadrant who value social issues placated. Wouldn't want idiots on social media asking why a company isn't giving to gratuitous image and platitudes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

This. Nobody in Europe gives a flying fuck, they find it creepy and patronising. Reminds me of (I think) French black minister when she mentioned how she was unaware of her blackness till she came to the US and studied there. People were like: “Bitch, you got brainwashed, it’s not what you think it is lol”.

In Canada, Black History Month has been going on, but it's more recently a bigger thing. I only noticed the Canadian offices bringing it up at companies i worked at the past 5 or so years as their own pow wow instead of just seeing forwarded messages the US office does. But the US is way longer than that.

I'm going assume anyone whose company is very US centric (like mine) may have US politics and holiday info spread out through all regions. It's going to be one part corporate pushing and one part laziness to adjust messages to each region. Our company's intranet system is US based. So all the news you get is US stuff. If you want see your region's info, you got to dig through some buried links and look for your country whose content is like 5% what the US site does.

But it goes beyond regional website info because even the CEO's celebration memos are all US based. So you could be a guy living in the UK and CEO Billy Bob will send copy you on a memo reminding you US Thanksgiving holiday is coming soon so have fun and safe travels. So I see all the memos about MLK and BHM and US holidays. But he'll never send anyone a reminder of the Canadian Thanksgiving date which is a month earlier.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The other to consider is that it's low hanging fruit content for marketing and by extension social media.

It's an easy space filler and the execs expect it. Marketing will leap on this as validation they are indeed working to their management.

It's 'nontent' at the end of the day that isn't pushing the needle for anything aside from keeping a small quadrant who value social issues placated. Wouldn't want idiots on social media asking why a company isn't giving to gratuitous image and platitudes.

Good point.

BTW, I had to google what "nontent" meant. lol

 

[Plague Doctor]

Good point.

BTW, I had to google what "nontent" meant. lol

It's a good word that describes a lot of what corpos crap out on their social media feeds.

 

[Damigos]

That's a bet that will pay well if they manage to climb back to success.
A bit less if they actually end up bankrupting entirely.

For better or worse Shadow is going to give them a temporary injection of cash. The question is if it will be a smashing hit or if it will under-perform compared to the rest of the series.
The second and even more important question is if they have ANYTHING lined up after that or it will be a couple of years of complete void after AC Shadow.

Void seems more likely. Especially after the rumours that the Guillemort (or whatever) are actually seeking buyers to buy them

 

[rm082e]

I know they have Anno 117 coming this year, but that's never a big seller. Does that mean Far Cry 7 is the next big title for them after Shadows? And that's not until 2026?

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

They must be hoping for a "Black Panther" moment for this game. The first BP movie released during Black History Month and did gangbusters. I think the loss in sales from the Japanese market will be relatively softened by the gains from fervid Americans, but I guess we'll see.

 

[Meicyn]

I know they have Anno 117 coming this year, but that's never a big seller. Does that mean Far Cry 7 is the next big title for them after Shadows? And that's not until 2026?

Very likely. The Division 3 is in production right now at Massive and they are actively hiring for key positions. But it’s likely we won’t see it until 2028. They’ve got support studios working on The Division 2 DLC set to release in March or April and probably other stuff for that game since Ubisoft realized about two years ago that they should have never abandoned the IP. As an active player, I noticed they’ve significantly ramped up the production and sale of cosmetics in The Division 2, which only makes sense if there are a meaningful quantity of folks buying them.

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

Give me full control I'll have them profitable again within 4-5 business years

 

[Mister Wolf]

I kinda tempted buy the dip. Should I?

 

[Wintereq]

Give me full control I'll have them profitable again within 4-5 business years

Will you release a remake of Far Cry "1"? If yes then sign me in. xD

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Any idea when their quarterly earnings call is?

 

[kruis]

Any idea when their quarterly earnings call is?

Must be Jan 31. The last was on Oct 31 '24.

 

[Brakum]

"Let's all cheer for all videogame developers and publishers to go out of business."

I don’t understand so-called gaming enthusiasts.

If you dont contribute anything meaningful to the industry then you shouldnt exist. Especially when not only do you not contribute, but you're one of the main players that are making it worse for everyone. Yeah fuck them. Maybe someone that has an actual interest in making good products will pick up the talent.

 

[Ozriel]

If you dont contribute anything meaningful to the industry then you shouldnt exist. Especially when not only do you not contribute, but you're one of the main players that are making it worse for everyone. Yeah fuck them. Maybe someone that has an actual interest in making good products will pick up the talent.

Eh. Millions buy their games, so they’re still contributing to the industry.

“What I dont like should not exist” is seriously smooth brain rhetoric.

 

[Brakum]

Eh. Millions buy their games, so they’re still contributing to the industry.

“What I dont like should not exist” is seriously smooth brain rhetoric.

Bad games are just the tip of the why ubisoft is shit iceberg. And hey it's not even me saying they shouldnt exist. It's the entire industry. People who dont buy your games dont care if you exist or not. And apparently not enough people csre about ubisofts existence to justify their existence.

I will never understand why game developers have an armada of online warriors defending them. If nestle went out of business the internet would be thrilled, rightuflly so, even though millions consume their products and more jobs would be lost.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

"Let's all cheer for all videogame developers and publishers to go out of business."

I don’t understand so-called gaming enthusiasts.

It’s about sending a message to the rest of the industry.

Continue down this path and Ubisoft’s fate will be your’s too.

It’s beneficial.

 

[Ywap]

I really hope they´ll make it. Who wouldn´t want Division 3, Splinter Cell, AC Black Flag Remake. Far Cry 7 and more?

I also thought Extraction, Star Wars and Fenyx Rising was great

One of my favourite developers to be honest

 

[Giallo Corsa]

Bad games are just the tip of the why ubisoft is shit iceberg. And hey it's not even me saying they shouldnt exist. It's the entire industry. People who dont buy your games dont care if you exist or not. And apparently not enough people csre about ubisofts existence to justify their existence.

I will never understand why game developers have an armada of online warriors defending them. If nestle went out of business the internet would be thrilled, rightuflly so, even though millions consume their products and more jobs would be lost.

Hey Brakum, new here ?
Don't bother matey, Ozriel is the forum's (always condescending) "AcKtuaLLy" type of guy as you'll soon find out

It'd be easier to hold a conversation with a...brick wall

PS: You ain't wrong about Ubisoft btw but, I suppose that you're smooth brained® amirite ?

 

[Ozriel]

And hey it's not even me saying they shouldnt exist. It's the entire industry. People who dont buy your games dont care if you exist or not. And apparently not enough people csre about ubisofts existence to justify their existence

No, it’s you and a few other warriors. There is no
Industry wide boycott of Ubisoft games. The market just doesn’t buy shit or subpar games.

The market has historically been favorable to their AC games. They’re struggling because they delivered a subpar Watchdogs sequel, messed up their Star Wars game, lost a ton of money with Skull and Bones and lost hundreds of millions in GaaS attempts.

Ubisoft’s existence will certainly be in a different manner, with lots of restructuring and underperforming segments pruned down. But they still do have core franchises that resonate with the market.

I will never understand why game developers have an armada of online warriors defending them. If nestle went out of business the internet would be thrilled, rightuflly so, even though millions consume their products and more jobs would be lost.

I’m not keen on Internet jesters calling for people to lose their jobs, as well as the termination of franchises that millions still like.

Hey Brakum, new here ?
Don't bother matey, Ozriel is the forum's (always condescending) "AcKtuaLLy" type of guy as you'll soon find out

It'd be easier to hold a conversation with a...brick wall

PS: You ain't wrong about Ubisoft btw but, I suppose that you're smooth brained® amirite ?

I hope you develop a thicker skin in real life. Because this is just hilarious.

 

[Paltheos]

Decided to check the ticker on a whim today.

Google shows them trading at $2.23. The last time Ubisoft's price was this low is in (May?) 2013, before their meteoric rise in 2017 and (relative) stability through the start of 2021, before beginning their spiral up to and continuing through today. Their absolute peak price was $24.10 in July 2018. This change represents a 90.75% drop in value.

The average share price for their peak period (2018-2020) is... I don't know, eyeballing it $16? $17? Smaller by comparison but still pretty bad.

 

[phant0m]

Wild how far the big 3 (Ubi, EA, ATVI) have fallen in the last 20 years. They pumped out all kinds of great games. Now they've all zeroed in on their niche and just keep making the same game.

Ubi - Open World franchises with various themes (AC, FC, Avatar, WD, Crew, Steep/RR)
EA - Annual sports franchises & the sims
ATVI - COD

 

[Sooner]

If you dont contribute anything meaningful to the industry then you shouldnt exist. Especially when not only do you not contribute, but you're one of the main players that are making it worse for everyone. Yeah fuck them. Maybe someone that has an actual interest in making good products will pick up the talent.

I just finished the new Prince of Persia and enjoyed it. But, I'm guessing you didn't, so "fuck them, they deserve to die!".

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Wild how far the big 3 (Ubi, EA, ATVI) have fallen in the last 20 years. They pumped out all kinds of great games. Now they've all zeroed in on their niche and just keep making the same game.

Ubi - Open World franchises with various themes (AC, FC, Avatar, WD, Crew, Steep/RR)
EA - Annual sports franchises & the sims
ATVI - COD

They benefited from the shift to HD by already being heavily invested in PC, their transition was much smoother than the big Japanese companies.

That advantage disappeared after the PS360 era as everyone else had caught up.

 

[CGNoire]

Where never getting that Splinter Cell Remake are we?

 

[deeptech]

Shame, they were so creative back then, ofc those people long left, but still. They had so many good games, no need to name them. Lately, they had gone so stale and uninteresting, textbook design, looking not to insult, DEI should I mention it, lack of integrity and proper direction. No wonder all great creators left the company. Empires rise and fall, why should it be different for game companies? Let them go I say and patiently await new studios and creative individuals to come up. Thank lordy we're not entitled to any company.

 

[Fafalada]

How are they any different from EA, Take Two etc?

EA has the most profitable console IP on the market - and T2 is posting losses larger than Ubisofts annual revenue - so who knows why they're still around.

 

[Fafalada]

_ Absurdely high development costs in French speaking countries/cities, i.e. France, French Canada etc.

I'm not sure this was ever much of a factor - outside of Canada and Paris - Ubisoft has studios mostly in low-cost areas of respective geographies, and that's where majority of those 20k are,
But sure - they do have all the other problems.

 

[Firestartah]

Can this trashcan company burn already so we can free Splinter Cell, or do we really need to wait for We Wuz Samuraiz first.

 

[Team Andromeda]

Love Ubisoft and hope they can get back on form and stop making the horrible service games

 

[Brakum]

No, it’s you and a few other warriors. There is no
Industry wide boycott of Ubisoft games. The market just doesn’t buy shit or subpar games.

The market has historically been favorable to their AC games. They’re struggling because they delivered a subpar Watchdogs sequel, messed up their Star Wars game, lost a ton of money with Skull and Bones and lost hundreds of millions in GaaS attempts.

Ubisoft’s existence will certainly be in a different manner, with lots of restructuring and underperforming segments pruned down. But they still do have core franchises that resonate with the market.



I’m not keen on Internet jesters calling for people to lose their jobs, as well as the termination of franchises that millions still like.




I hope you develop a thicker skin in real life. Because this is just hilarious.

I didnt say there was a boycot. I agree that people dont buy their games because they're shit. Never said it was anything else

 

[Brakum]

I just finished the new Prince of Persia and enjoyed it. But, I'm guessing you didn't, so "fuck them, they deserve to die!".

Ah yes, the good game the made recently. I hope you didnt miss the news that they closed down that studio.

 

[BeardSpike]

Where never getting that Splinter Cell Remake are we?

Better lookout for this one actually since it looks like it may release instead of Splinter Cell remake.

 

[yurinka]

The difference is that EA has stable financial income due to their annual release sports titles, and Take Two of course is behind popular brands a la Grand Theft Auto. I wouldn't be surprised if 2025 is the final year for Ubisoft in one way shape or form, where they either declare bankruptcy outright; or they get bought after the stock price plummets; or they split into multiple subsidiaries, with some going bankrupt.

They aren't going bankrupt at all, lol. They have an stable and growing revenue, and their income isn't bad but not great either. In 2023 they started to cut the fat (aggresive in 2023 as can be seen, lighter but continued after it), with the idea of improving their income going forward.

_ Lack of a franchise with predictable annual income; the closest Ubisoft ever had were those dance games of course

Wrong. AC, Far Cry and Rainbow Six generate them each over $300M/year each even in years with no new game release, plus they also have a strong revenue chunk from catalog games (over 50% every year).

_ Generic "tower based" open world designs applied to multiple IPs

Most Ubisoft games aren't open world games, and most of their open world games don't have towers.

_ Lack of focus on games that are cheaper to develop, have a better defined audience, smaller scope, but can grow out of a niche, i.e. For Honor

You mean like Riders Republic, Trackmania, Roller Champions, Mario x Rabbids, Rogue PoP, PoP Lost Crown etc?

 

[Gorgon]

I really hope they´ll make it. Who wouldn´t want Division 3, Splinter Cell, AC Black Flag Remake. Far Cry 7 and more?

I also thought Extraction, Star Wars and Fenyx Rising was great

One of my favourite developers to be honest

Well, as always, it's a mater of personal taste. The last Ubi game I cared about was Ghost Recon: Wild Lands.

Hopefully, Ghost of Yotei will feel less "Ubi" like Ghost of Tsushima and have an actually interesting open world instead of the dead open worlds of Ubisoft.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

I just finished the new Prince of Persia and enjoyed it. But, I'm guessing you didn't, so "fuck them, they deserve to die!".

Sooner, PoP is indeed good but, besides that, what else has been good the past couple of years ?

If you ask me, Valiant hearts is one of their best games (and one of the nicest games I ever played) as was Child of light and a couple of Raymans but everything else is just an Assassin's Creed reskin, I mean, no matter which AC or even Far cry you're playing feels like the same.exact.shit brother, huge map with 17473828 OCD inducing icons in it, it's just lazy design at this point and it definitely feels quantity over quality.

Then you have flops like Avatar and the latest SW game and...I just don't know what this company can do to save itself - and the AC Japan controversy isn't helping man...

Cheers

 

[Ozriel]

Ah yes, the good game the made recently. I hope you didnt miss the news that they closed down that studio.

Yeah. Because the game sold poorly. And not because it was shit.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Oh no. No more crappy Assassins Creed games from the assembly line.