Ubisoft has revealed updated financial details about its planned joint spinoff subsidiary it's planning with Tencent. In today's full-year financial report for the fiscal year 2024-2025, the company revealed that Tencent will be investing €1.16 billion (about $1.8 billion) in the venture to acquire a 25 percent economic interest in the company. Ubisoft will in turn be pocketing "at least" €500 million (about $559 million) of that transaction, with the remainder serving as "sufficient working capital" for the new company.The news comes on the back of a brutal financial year for Ubisoft. The company reported a 20 percent decline in net bookings, only pulling in €1.8 billion during the year. Digital net bookings also dropped 20 percent to about €1.6 billion, and the normally-robust back catalogue bookings slipped 13.5 percent to €1.3 billion.All told, Ubisoft posted a loss on IFRS operating income of €82.6 million. It reassured its investors that it's still seeing "strong activity metrics" across the Console and PC marketplaces—but the Tencent-backed subsidiary is the center of its transformation plan.Some other tantalizing details of the transaction—expected to wrap up by the end of 2025—also help us assess Ubisoft's outlook. As previously reported, the new subsidiary will be granted licenses and proprietary rights to the Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Assassin's Creed series. In exchange, Ubisoft will take in a revenue-based royalty while the subsidiary takes on the development risks. Ubisoft estimates the subsidiary's annual revenue will "exceed €80 million" in the coming years, and that the company's combined value will clock in at a minimum of €5 billion.Related:Ubisoft will also offer "specific shared services" to the spinoff company, indicating there will still be operational ties between "Nubisoft" (that's our nickname for it, not theirs), and the company that spawned it.For those just joining us, Ubisoft arrived at this rocky financial position after a number of high-profile fumbled releases across its many franchises. The Assassin's Creed series has stayed strong, with Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Mirage, and Shadows all finding an audience. But Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars Outlaws, and XDefiant have all been heavy losses for the company. Outlaws' underperformance was so rough it forced Ubisoft to finally release games day-and-date on Steam to boost its PC presence.Frustratingly, Ubisoft still won't say how many copies of Assassin's Creed Shadows it's sold. It stated that the game delivered the "second-highest day-one sales revenue in franchise history," and it was Ubisoft's best day-one performance on the PlayStation store. The best metric it's offered is that players have spent a cumulative 160 million hours stabbing their way through feudal Japan, but for all we know that could just be 800,000 players each playing 200 hours (that is obviously not close to a realistic number).Related:As its games underperformed, Ubisoft faced pressure from investors to take strong action—at one point even reportedly considering a buyout. The company spent the last year slashing costs and closing studios, putting developers out of work and ending fiscal year 2024-2025 with an ever-decreasing number of employees.Its final headcount stood at 17,782 workers as of March 2025, 1,230 fewer than the year before. That decrease wasn't all driven by layoffs—much of it was done by reducing hiring and not backfilling existing roles—but especially with the major studio closures, it seems those with the least agency over Ubisoft's business decisions paid the highest price.

Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube812k It's been some time since Ubisoft provided an update about the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 'Remake' project, but we've officially got one in the company's latest earnings call. Although the plan is to now provide unannounced major IPs additional development time to improve the overall quality of each experience after a similar delay helped Assassin's Creed Shadows - it seems the long-awaited Sands of Time remake could be on the horizon. The long-awaited title, originally revealed in 2020, is now scheduled to be released in the current financial year, ending March 2026. “After a thorough review of its pipeline that took place from October to December, the Group decided to provide additional development time to some of its biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success... This decision has already been beneficial to the quality of Assassin’s Creed Shadows." It's believed The Sands of Time Remake will be narrowed to a release sometime between January and March of next year at this stage. No platforms have been confirmed, but a Switch version was referenced at one stage, and the original game was released on GameCube. This project update follows the news last year Ubisoft had bolstered the remake's development with Ubisoft Toronto joining the project. The last Prince of Persia game released on a Nintendo platform was The Lost Crown last January, which unfortunately led to the same team being disbanded by Ubisoft after a disastrous year for the company. More recently Ubisoft has opened a new subsidiary with Tencent focused on key IP. Could another Ubisoft game be on the way? "A new chapter in its history" What series would you like to see next-gen? Would you be interested in returning to The Sands of Time in the future? Have you played the original release? How do you feel about Ubisoft giving its other games more development time? Let us know in the comments. [source videogameschronicle.com] Share:0 0 Liam is a news writer and reviewer across Hookshot Media. He's been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of many iconic video game characters. Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment... Related Articles Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Switch 2 Games And original Switch, of course Here's A Look At The Back Of Mario Kart World's Switch 2 Box Art The race begins next month The First Review For Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Is In A fantasy score? SNK Announces ACA NEOGEO Selection Vol. 5 And Vol. 6 For Switch Update: Multi-language release confirmed Feature: "We're Very Confident" - CD Projekt Red On Delivering The Full Cyberpunk 2077 Experience On Switch 2 "Nintendo was very supportive"

Ubisoft's FY24-25 financials report "solid balance sheet" despite hefty drops in revenue and back-catalog sales CEO says Ubisoft will "provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success" Image credit: Ubisoft News by Vikki Blake Contributor Published on May 14, 2025 Ubisoft has released its financial results for the full 2024-25 fiscal year, reporting a "solid balance sheet" and "very strong praise" for Assassin's Creed Shadows - which delivered the second-highest Day One sales in franchise history after Valhalla - despite hefty drops in revenue, net bookings, digital net bookings, and back-catalog net bookings across the year. CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft would "provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success" and notably missed FY2025-26 from his announcement that "FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands." In FY2025-26, the firm "expects to maintain a consolidated net debt position of around zero." Ubisoft's headcount dropped by 1230 over the last 12 months. Here's what you need to know: The numbers: For the full 2024-25 financial year ending March 31, 2025 Revenue: €1899.2 million (down 17.5% year-on-year) Net bookings: €1846.4 million (down 20.5%) Digital net bookings: €1585.4 million (down 20.2%) Back-catalogue net bookings: €1296.3 million (down 13.5%) The highlights: Ubisoft said its brands have "continued to perform strongly this quarter," with the Top 10 brands posting year-over-year net bookings growth, leading to a record fourth quarter at €902m. Console and PC "activity metrics" are reported as "broadly stable" year-on-year. Despite an overall year-on-year drop, back-catalog net bookings for Q4 were "up double-digit," with noted performance from Ubisoft's other tentpole franchise, Rainbow Six Siege, with The Crew Motorfest also posting a strong performance. The company said it was continuing its strategic focus on open world adventures and native GaaS "experiences," resulting in "reshaping its operating model with the objective to better meet player needs, deliver superior game quality, and drive discipline capital allocation." This will see a new organization structure announced by the end of the year (it's not clear if Ubisoft is referring to calendar or financial year here). It also reaffirmed its commitment to its three "iconic IPs," Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry, hinting at a "very powerful five-year line-up to come" in partnership with Tencent. Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six brands’ unique active players both stood at around 30 million for the 4th consecutive year, with Far Cry at around 20 million per year over the same period. Other brands continued to "drive strong community appeal, with more than 100 million unique active players in FY2024-25." "The transaction with Tencent crystalizes the true economic value of three of Ubisoft’s leading franchises. The minority nature of the transaction enables Ubisoft to maintain control of these IP, retain financial consolidation as well as safeguard strategic alignment with the Group and maintain upside on these franchises while immediately strengthening its balance sheet," the company said. "It will be steered by a dedicated leadership, with a team that will include external hires, and that will be advised by industry veterans. With this transaction, Tencent will invest €1.16bn in a primary issuance by the New Subsidiary, acquiring an approximate 25% economic interest. At closing, at least €500m will be upstreamed to Ubisoft, ensuring sufficient working capital needs of the New Subsidiary at start." "This year has been a challenging one for Ubisoft, with mixed dynamics across our portfolio, amid intense industry competition. Despite these headwinds, Ubisoft managed to deliver positive free cash flow generation over the fiscal year, reflecting the discipline applied across the Group," said CEO Guillemot. "Aware of the challenges ahead, we took decisive steps to continue strengthening the company’s future [... and] we also completed our initial cost savings program ahead of schedule. We are committed to going further, with additional savings of at least €100m over the next two years to drive structural efficiencies and reinforce the foundations of our organization. "This continued focus on discipline will support our growth ambitions and the profound transformation of Ubisoft. We are currently working on reshaping the Group’s operating model and plan to announce a new organization by the end of the year," he added. "A major step in this transformation was the announcement in March of the creation of a new subsidiary, backed by Tencent as a core strategic partner. "Additionally, after a review of our pipeline, we have decided to provide additional development time to some of our biggest productions in order to create the best conditions for success. As a consequence, FY2026-27 and FY2027-28 will see significant content coming from our largest brands," Guillemot concluded. "Ubisoft is entering a new chapter, and I am confident in our ability to build a stronger, more resilient company for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”