Despite Success of New 'Assassin's Creed' Game, Ubisoft Stock Tumbles 18%

'Shares of Ubisoft sank 18% on Thursday,' reports CNBC, 'after the French video game firm reported full-year earnings that disappointed investors... The company's shares have lost almost 60% of their value in the past 12 months, as the firm faced financial struggles, development hurdles, and underperformance of some of its key titles.'

Ubisoft said its latest Assassin's Creed game 'delivered the second-highest Day 1 sales revenue in franchise history and set a new record for Ubisoft's Day 1 performance on the PlayStation digital store,' according to Reuters. And AFP notes that according to data from consultancy Circana, that game become the second-best-selling game of the year so far in the U.S. But...

[A] string of disappointing releases undermined this year's performance, with a net loss of 159 million euros ($178 million) on revenues of 1.9 billion — down 17.5 percent year-on-year. Over the past 12 months, Ubisoft's would-be blockbuster 'Star Wars Outlaws' fell short of sales expectations on release, while it cancelled multiplayer first-person shooter 'XDefiant' for lack of players. 'This year has been a challenging one for Ubisoft, with mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition,' chief executive Yves Guillemot said in a statement. But a string of disappointing releases undermined this year's performance, with a net loss of 159 million euros ($178 million) on revenues of 1.9 billion — down 17.5 percent year-on-year.

The group expects the measure to hold steady in the coming 2025-26 financial year, during which it will release a new 'Prince of Persia' game, strategy title 'Anno 117: Pax Romana' and mobile versions of shooters 'Rainbow Six' and 'The Division'... Moving to address its business woes, Ubisoft said in late March that it would create a new subsidiary to manage its three top franchises: 'Assassin's Creed', 'Far Cry' and 'Rainbow Six'.

'Since January, the shares have lost more than 12 percent, touching their lowest price in over a decade in April.'

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