(Bloomberg) -- Ubisoft Entertainment SA’s net bookings missed analysts’ estimates as production delays and weaker-than-expected sales weigh on the French video game company’s turnaround plan.
Net bookings were €352.3 million ($382 million) in the second quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, down 36% compared to the same period last year, Ubisoft said in a statement on Wednesday. This compares to the €368 million average estimate from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg and falls at the lower end of the company’s recently cut guidance.
The company said it expected net bookings for this quarter, which includes the holiday season, of approximately €380 million, down from the €626 million it reported in the same quarter last year.
Ubisoft has been struggling to recover from a pandemic-era production crunch that resulted in delays in the release of new games and canceled titles. In September, shares fell to their lowest in more than a decade after the company cut its outlook and delayed its hotly anticipated game Assassin’s Creed Shadows from November to February, skipping the lucrative holiday period. The company said it needed more time to improve the game after its recent Star Wars release had underperformed.
Ubisoft Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot highlighted in a statement efforts being made to transform the company to its former glory through a “player-centric” approach, which involves improving the quality of games including Star Wars Outlaws based on customer feedback. He added that the company had cut costs in the quarter by reducing headcount and external spend.
It reiterated its full-year net bookings guidance of €1.95 billion.
To meet that guidance, the company would need a big jump in bookings in the fourth quarter, which could come if Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a hit.
Still, analysts said the target was ambitious given the unfavorable new release date and competition. Deutsche Bank’s George Brown described the guidance as “stretched” and said the release was “arguably the most important game in Ubisoft’s history.”
Shares rose 3.4% at 10:24 a.m. in Paris on Thursday. They have fallen more than 40% so far this year.
Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings Ltd. have been considering options including a potential buyout of the French video game developer, Bloomberg previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Tencent owned 9.2% of Ubisoft’s net voting rights at the end of April, while the Guillemot family held about 20.5%, according to the firm’s latest annual report.
Chief Financial Officer Frédérick Duguet said the company continues exploring the sale of non-core assets that fall outside of two core verticals — open world adventures and games-as-a-service — and “enhance financial flexibility.”
(Updates with shares and analyst comment)
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