Following last week’s disappointing earnings call with investors, Ubisoft revealed its sales and earnings figures for the first half of 2019-20 financial year this week, revealing a whopping 93 percent year-on-year decline in operating income.
In a press release, Ubisoft pinned the blame almost entirely on Ghost Recon: Breakpoint but it’s worth noting that The Division 2 didn’t meet sales expectations either. However, there was no mention of that in the financial report.
What Ubisoft did mention was strong performances by Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Rainbow Six Siege. According to the developer, the former saw a “further acceleration of the already very sharp increase delivered in the first quarter in terms of daily player engagement” and the latter boasts record monthly active users (MAUs). Expanding further on these two titles, Ubisoft noted that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s player engagement and sell-through is much higher than Origins‘, and Rainbow Six Siege‘s MAUs were higher in Q2 2019 than Q2 2018. The hit Tom Clancy title has over 50 million registered players and saw a 27 percent viewership increase for its esports event, Six Major Raleigh.
Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot understandably wasn’t too critical of Ghost Recon: Breakpoint in public but we’ve heard reports that the company is now requiring “super unique” pitches from its development teams after the game’s disastrous performance, both critically and commercially. Ubisoft has also delayed three of its AAA titles (Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six Quarantine, and Watch Dogs: Legion) in the aftermath, now aiming for cross-gen releases.
With a new Assassin’s Creed on its way alongside the aforementioned titles, Ubisoft remains optimistic about the future.
