In brief: After several years marked by game cancellations, layoffs, and underperforming releases, a brief earnings report delay and a temporary trading halt led analysts to fear the worst for Ubisoft. The cause of the delay turned out to be minor, and the company ultimately posted positive results for the past two quarters. Still, whether Ubisoft can resolve its deeper, long-standing issues remains an open question.
Contrary to prior speculation, Tencent is neither fully acquiring Ubisoft nor exiting the companies' existing $1.25 billion agreement. During an earnings call following the delayed release of the H1 2025 – 2026 report, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot explained that the postponement occurred because the company's new auditors changed its fiscal accounting methods.
Ubisoft also reported solid commercial growth for the six months ending in September. Net bookings – its primary sales metric – reached €772 million, a 20 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Digital revenue grew 30 percent year-over-year to €686 million, player recurring investment rose 53 percent to €475 million, and back-catalog sales climbed 50 percent to €741 million.
The company attributed much of its success to Assassin's Creed Shadows, the latest entry in the tentpole franchise, which launched in March. The game's commercial performance was crucial for Ubisoft. Following the underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws last year, the company delayed Shadows and abandoned its policy of withholding releases from Steam to improve the chances of a successful launch.
While Ubisoft no longer reports exact sales figures, it stated that Shadows "overperformed," with 211 million session days – 35 percent above the franchise's average over the last two years. Earlier this year, the company confirmed that the game had reached five million players, and external reports estimated it had the second-fastest launch in the franchise's 18-year history. The only entry with a stronger debut, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, benefited from a holiday-season launch amid the pandemic. Shadows is set to arrive on the Nintendo Switch 2 on December 2.
Meanwhile, sources informed Insider Gaming that a long-rumored but still-unannounced remake of 2013's Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, one of the series' most popular titles, is expected in the coming weeks. Ubisoft's earnings presentation lists several games scheduled to launch before March 31, including one redacted title that Insider Gaming understands to be Black Flag.
The long-delayed remake of 2003's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is also scheduled for release before April. Insider Gaming reports that Ubisoft will reveal new details about the project during The Game Awards next month, with a launch expected in mid-January. Additionally, a remake of the original Splinter Cell may arrive in 2026.
Although the earnings report provided a modest boost to Ubisoft's stock, the company's shares are still down 44 percent this year and have declined 91 percent over the past five years. Numerous cancellations, layoffs, and underperforming titles have made Ubisoft heavily reliant on Tencent's investments. Fortunately, the two companies have completed a deal that transfers three of Ubisoft's major intellectual properties to a new division, Vantage Studios.
