Ubisoft's UK Branch Admits It "Expects Revenue To Fall In FY26" As "Traditional 'Full Game' Model" Becomes "Less Ubiquitous"
Ubisoft’s UK branch admitted in recent financial documents that it “expects revenue to fall in FY26” as the traditional full game model of doing business becomes less ubiquitous.
In its annual report for Ubisoft Limited, the company reported that while its overall revenue increased, its revenue from the sale of goods declined by 29% from the previous year to just £18.9 million. In 2024 the company grossed £26.5 million.
The company’s profit also massively declined from £54.251 million to just £800,000. That’s a decline of 98.5%.
On top of reporting significant declines in its overall revenue from goods sold as well as its profit, the company went on to indicate that it expects to see its revenue decline further in FY26.
It noted, “The traditional ‘full game’ model of selling a single £50-£60 game to a consumer as a one-time purchase continues to become less ubiquitous, with Multi Game Subscription services, long running Games As A Service titles, Free to Play games and Cloud Streaming offerings all providing new and attractive ways for consumers to access gaming content.”
“Consumers are playing fewer games, playing them for longer, and as a result, outside of a few notable exceptions, many new games are struggling to stand out and achieve the sales they may once have had, whilst the market is more volatile and the potential for any specific title less predictable as a result,” Ubisoft said. “As a result of a smaller physical new releases schedules in the coming year, Ubisoft Limited expects revenue to fall in FY26.”
Ironically, while Ubisoft indicates that the traditional model is becoming less ubiquitous, its foray into Games as a Service titles has seemingly failed horrendously outside of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, The Division 2, and The Crew Motorfest.
The company launched XDefiant in May 2024. It announced it was shutting the game down at the beginning of December 2024. It explained, “Despite an encouraging start, the team’s passionate work, and a committed fan base, we’ve not been able to attract and retain enough players in the long run to compete at the level we aim for in the very demanding free-to-play FPS market. As a result, the game is too far away from reaching the results required to enable further significant investment, and we are announcing that we will be sunsetting it.”
Additionally, its pirate-themed Skull and Bones game has also failed to attract a significant amount of players. On Steam, the game hit a 24-hour peak of just 352 and it’s overall peak concurrent player count sits at 2,615.
The company also released a free-to-play first-person shooter called Hyper Scrape back in August 2020. It lasted a little longer than XDefiant, but was shut down in April 2022.
Nevertheless, the company is still pursuing this model as it confirmed its upcoming Ghost Recon game will be a live service game. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said on a recent earnings call in July, “Our objective is to also make strong progress in the growing [live service] market, generally speaking, by continuing to enhance our current experiences that we offer—and capitalizing on upcoming launches, such as The Division and Ghost Recon.”
I think, the real competition is just cheaper one-time-purchase games. I can buy Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, Golf Story, Gris, and Deep Rock Galactic for the same price as one new Ubisoft game. That slate of games alone could last for 1000+ hours of play.