The action of the French video game giant had been suspended for a week at its request for a purely accounting problem. The Chinese giant’s investment of 1.16 billion euros has received all the green lights.
Why did Ubisoft suddenly request the suspension of its stock price last Thursday, when it was due to present its half-year results? The radio silence which followed this announcement for a week fueled much speculation and strong fears among shareholders. The answer finally arrived early this Friday morning, before the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange. It will relieve those who feared very negative news for the French video game giant, owner of the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry licenses, and in difficulty for several years.
No surprise buyout of the group, cancellation of the strategic agreement with Tencent or other serious financial problem on the horizon. It was indeed a purely accounting problem which led the group to cancel the communication of its financial results at the last minute. Its trading will resume this Friday morning at 10 a.m. on the Paris Stock Exchange.
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The report from the new auditors appointed in July to the Group’s general meeting, arriving a few days earlier, noted a problem with the recognition in the turnover of a partnership according to IFRS-15 for the 2025 fiscal year, the accounts of which had been formally approved last June. This unspecified partnership could be linked either to a distribution agreement on a subscription game platform (Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, etc.), or to audiovisual adaptation rights of a Ubisoft license, or to licensing and distribution rights for a game on a platform. This accounting standard problem led the group to restate its figures, and to postpone the publication of its half-year results by one week. All that for that, then.
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An imminent investment from Tencent
But Ubisoft accompanied this long-awaited publication with good news: its strategic agreement with Tencent has now received all the green lights. “All conditions precedent have been satisfied,” writes CEO Yves Guillemot in the press release. The arrival of the 1.16 billion euro investment from the Chinese tech giant is only a matter of days. It will have the great benefit of completely reducing the group’s debt. “This strategic transaction will see Tencent become a minority shareholder in our new subsidiary, Vantage Studios »also recalls the CEO.
Tencent will own 25% of this subsidiary, which will have the mission of managing Ubisoft’s three most profitable licenses: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Objective, to make them generate at least 1 billion euros per year, through all possible means: console games, PC, mobile, audiovisual adaptations, derivative products… This subsidiary, created on October 1, has decision-making and financial autonomy, and is managed by Charlie Guillemot, the son of the CEO, and Christophe Derennes, his cousin.
The rest of Ubisoft will soon also be divided into several subsidiaries, named “creative houses”structures seen as more agile and specialized on certain types of games. “We will have finalized the design of this new organization by the end of the year around autonomous, efficient, focused and responsible entities, each with its own direction, creative vision and strategic roadmap”continues Yves Guillemot. “Full details of this new operating model will be revealed in January. »
Furthermore, during the presentation to analysts, the CEO mentioned generative artificial intelligence. “This is as important a turning point for the video game industry as the move to 3D”in the mid-1990s, he said. “We have all the elements in hand to be leaders of this revolution”he adds, referring to the work of his research and development laboratory at Ubisoft Paris, which has been working on this subject since the end of 2022. This team of 80 engineers, game developers, but also «narrative designers»already unveiled last year a first technical demonstration, Neo NPC, allowing the player to chat orally with virtual characters.
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Improving financial results
While waiting for this big bang, Ubisoft announces half-year turnover of 772.4 million euros, up 20.3% year-on-year. The second quarter (490 million euros) outperformed thanks to “to more important partnerships than anticipated” and one “strong performance” from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, released last March. “Since the start of the year, Assassin’s Creed has generated 211 million days of gaming sessions, an increase of approximately 35% compared to the average of the last two years”writes Ubisoft, which says no more about the game’s sales. It announced a few months ago that this title had reached 5 million players.
Operating income is also clearly improving. It is 27.1 million euros, compared to a loss of 252 million euros last year. The net result is a deficit of 37 million euros. These losses amounted to 208 million euros in 2024.
Ubisoft maintains its objective for the current fiscal year, with stable revenues over one year (1.9 billion euros), an operating profit close to balance, and debt reduction linked to the financial contribution from Tencent. Furthermore, the group announces that it has already saved 69 million euros on its fixed costs, out of the 100 million set last May. He went through “targeted restructuring” et “continued discipline in recruitment”. Ubisoft has in fact carried out layoffs or voluntary departure plans in several studios. “Associated with revenue growth, these efforts will contribute to the return to solid cash flow generation in the coming years,” writes Yves Guillemot.
