Ubisoft Announces 2.9% Decline in Net Bookings

Okay, so picture this: Ubisoft, you know, the big French game company, just spilled the beans on their numbers for the past few months. And guess what? They’ve hit a bit of a snag—down 2.9% on their net bookings over the quarter that wrapped up on June 30th. Yeah, not great, but let’s dive into why.

First, they tossed out some fancy numbers for us: €281.6 million, or about $330.8 million, is what they pulled in during this time. They’re saying the dip’s partly because Rainbow Six: Siege didn’t quite hit it out of the park. Plus, a big partner deal was supposed to drop, but oops, it got kicked down the road to the next quarter. Classic delay, right?

But hey, it’s not all downhill. Their back catalog is pulling some serious weight—€260.4 million, or $305.9 million, bringing in a sweet 4.4% more than last year. So yeah, people are still snapping up the older stuff. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s the sales—they didn’t exactly say.

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Ubisoft’s not just sitting around. They’re shaking things up, breaking into these new Creative Houses. Sounds fancy, huh? Basically, they’re slicing into different units. Think mini-companies within the big company. The first one’s backed by Tencent, if you remember that announcement from earlier. Kind of like setting up new little teams with their own rules.

Yves Guillemot, the guy at the top, he’s like, “We’re pushing through some big changes with these Creative Houses.” They want to amp up the game variety and give teams more freedom (and stress, maybe?).

That new subsidiary they mentioned before, the one looking after blockbuster hits like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry? It’s officially one of these Creative Houses. They just set up its leadership crew which, apparently, is a big deal. They’re aiming to be quicker on their feet while not losing sight of the long game.

So, yeah, there’s a lot happening at Ubisoft. Ups and downs, old games selling like hotcakes, and new internal shake-ups. Kind of feels like they’re gearing up for something big, but only time will tell if this gamble pays off.