Ubisoft Q3 2021 Earnings Call - What You Need to Know

Ubisoft held its quarterly earnings call yesterday, discussing its business performance for the last financial quarter and establishing an outline for what investors and consumers can expect in the immediate future. These events aren't typically aimed at regular folks like you or I, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing of interest for us among the the talk of financial projections, quarterly growth and market analysis. Here are the juiciest takeaways from the conference call, led by CEO Yves Guillemot.

Note: For clarification, fiscal 2021 refers to the months between April 2020 and March 2021. Fiscal 2022 refers to the months between April 2021 and March 2022.

Overall Sales Across Fiscal 2021

Last year, Ubisoft was the biggest publisher, in terms of units sold, across all platforms collectively (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Switch, Stadia and PC). On Switch, it was the second biggest third-party publisher. When just taking into account sales figures on the latest generation of consoles (PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S), Ubisoft was the second biggest publisher.

Untitled Star Wars Game and The Division 2

The untitled Star Wars game set to be developed by Ubisoft Massive, developer of The Division franchise, is reported to be in early development. Still, Ubisoft has confirmed that the studio will work on said Star Wars game and The Division 2 concurrently, with content for the latter game set to release both in 2021 and 2022.

Ubisoft's First Mobile Game with Tencent

 Ubisoft will soft-launch its first mobile title in association with Tencent in Q4 2022. The title has not been announced yet, but we know that Ubisoft plans to use mobile to bring AAA experiences to smartphones while expanding its existing franchises. Rumours suggest it will be an extension of the Assassin's Creed franchise, although this has not been confirmed.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

The latest Assassin's Creed title was the best-performing in the franchise's history in terms of launch sales. This superb launch is believed to be a major part of the reason for this latest financial quarter being Ubisoft's best ever.

The Ubisoft "Backlog"

Ubisoft is growing increasingly aware that its older titles—Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Rainbow Six Siege, The Division 2, The Crew 2 etc.—are staying relevant and earning money for a long time after their launches. This is spurring the company further in the direction of giving their games "legs" and ensuring they are able to stay in players' minds for as long as possible. Take, for instance, the upcoming multiplayer mode for Watch Dogs: Legion, which will add both PvP and PvE modes to the game free of charge.

Fiscal 2022 Releases

Far Cry 6, Skull & Bones, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, Riders Republic and Roller Champions will release in fiscal 2022.

AAA Pricing Structures and Free-to-Play

Ubisoft will look to further explore the potential of free-to-play games and alternative monetisation models. When asked about the growing number of AAA games launching at £70, Ubisoft revealed that it was unsure whether it would follow suit for the coming generation. 

Prince of Persia and Riders Republic Delays

Part of the reason for the delays of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake and Riders Republic, in addition to giving the studios time to polish the games, is to bolster the following financial year. Fiscal 2021 was already a winner; these two titles will help fiscal 2022 fly even higher.

Rainbow Six Siege

Ubisoft's underdog eSports phenomenon saw a fantastic year. Despite the postponement of the 2021 Invitationals the game was still seen as a success. Continued content support and a full transition from a season pass to a battle pass model (plus inclusion in Game Pass) earned the game 15 million new players last year.

 

Summing Up

Ubisoft appears to be incredibly pleased with its recent performance, and it remains exceptionally confident looking ahead. With a slew of new AAA titles, new content for existing releases and an intriguing mobile game to look forward to, us players have good reason to be optimistic too.