Investment website — Ubisoft (EPA:) shares fell more than 6% on Friday after another delay for the Assassin's Creed Shadows video game series and lower guidance for fiscal 2025.
In an update, Ubisoft said it has appointed “leading advisors” to explore potential alternatives following a three-month review by its executive committee aimed at improving operational performance.
The move underscores an “aggressive stance” in tackling the broader challenges facing the company, according to analysts at Stifel.
The highly anticipated Assassin's Creed Shadows, which was scheduled to release in November, has now been delayed for a third time, with a new release date set for March 20, 2025.
This represents another setback for one of Ubisoft's flagship franchises. Analysts expressed concern that repeated delays could impact the company's momentum, despite management's confidence in the title's long-term potential.
In addition to the delay, Ubisoft lowered its net bookings guidance for fiscal year 2025 to €1.9 billion, representing an 18% decline year over year.
This is lower than the previous forecast of €1.95 billion, with the company attributing the shortfall to disappointing holiday sales, particularly for Star Wars Outlaws, and the discontinuation of XDefiant.
Stifel noted that third-quarter net bookings expectations fell to €300 million, representing a 52% decline year-on-year and the lowest quarterly figure since fiscal 2006.
Despite this, Ubisoft's updated guidance expects a record net bookings of €958 million for the fourth quarter, surpassing the previous year's peak of €873 million.
However, analysts have questioned the feasibility of this target, noting that it relies heavily on Assassin's Creed Shadows and new partnership opportunities.
Stifel also lowered its estimates for Ubisoft, forecasting a FY25 loss of €0.44 per share on net bookings of €1.838 billion, down from a previous forecast of a loss of €0.38 on €1.907 billion.
Despite forecasting net bookings of €2.057 billion for fiscal year 2026, analysts cited uncertainty over the release of a new Far Cry game, which is essential to achieving these goals.
