Following a “challenging” year of losses and few releases, Ubisoft is preparing to pump resources into the Assassin’s Creed franchise to secure its future. It will include a restructure that will increase headcount on Assassin’s Creed title development by 40% in the coming years, following a rash of layoffs that reduced the company’s global headcount below 20,000.
In its full year earnings today, Ubisoft reported that in a fiscal year in which its only major releases were Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, Just Dance 2023, and Rocksmith+, its net sales were €1.81 billion ($1.97 billion) down 14.6% from last year, and it overall reported an operating loss of €500 million ($543 million). While Ubisoft has previously stated that Sparks of Hope and Just Dance specifically underperformed, other live service games kept money flowing in, with the Assassin’s Creed franchise in particular reaching a new “record active users” despite no new game releases. Ubisoft reports that not only does Assassin’s Creed Valhalla now have 44% more players life-to-date than Origins and 19% more than Odyssey, it’s bringing in more money per player than either game.
Ubisoft is going big on Assassin’s Creed
This likely explains why Ubisoft is gearing up to go hard on the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the coming years. Assassin’s Creed Mirage is still set for release in 2023, and three other major games are on the horizon alongside an additional VR game and a mobile game in the franchise.
Ubisoft has stated it intends to increase the number of people working on the franchise across the company by 40% in the coming years to “fuel its ambitious expansion”, though it seems likely much of this will come from promised “targeted restructurings” as ongoing cost-cutting measures have dropped the company’s global headcount below 20,000 from a September total of over 20,700. Ubisoft tells investors that it plans to continue “tight control on recruitments” and to divest “non-core assets,” meaning we’re likely to see Ubisoft continue to reduce the overall number of games it takes on at once (a process it has already begun in earnest) and spend more time, money, and person power on Assassin’s Creed.
That doesn’t mean that Assassin’ Creed is literally everything, though. Unlike a number of past earnings reports and announcements, this quarter’s announcements did not come with any game delays or cancellations. Ubisoft’s coming fiscal year (ending March 2024) still promises to include not just Mirage, but Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence, Rainbow Six Mobile, The Crew Motorfest, Skull and Bones (which has been delayed six times now), XDefiant, and “another large game” that has not yet been named. Ubisoft expects to say more about these games in an upcoming Ubisoft Forward event on June 12.
It’s also worth noting Ubisoft’s stated interest in generative AI. In its earnings report, Ubisoft calls itself “uniquely positioned to lead” the charge on a purported “transformation” of creative industries by generative AI, which it claims was demonstrated at the recent Game Developers Conference 2023 in March. “Internally, early adoption is fast, with creators and developers of all levels experimenting with the technology and taking advantage of the booming Generative AI landscape,” the press release states. “With them, Ubisoft is shaping a responsible framework with talent management and fair use at heart.”
While several major companies have come out in favor of experimenting with generative AI, this is a notably emphatic statement of interest from Ubisoft in generative AI integration with game development. The impacts of that use have yet to be seen, but Ubisoft has previously discussed potential uses, such as NPC pathfinding, through its R&D division Ubisoft La Forge. IGN has previously examined both the benefits and concerns around generative AI during our recent AI Week.
Ubisoft’s outlook for the coming year expects an income of €400 million ($435 million) – which would mark a significant jump from its €500 million loss over the past year.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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