Ubisoft stock prices tumble, investors revolt, company might be cooked
Things aren’t looking too good Ubisoft. The French gaming giant’s stock continues to tumble after big budget “AAAA” title Star Wars: Outlaws was poorly received by gamers. The situation has gotten so bad that at least one investor has called for the company to go private, while others are demanding founder and CEO Yves Guillemot step down.
It’s fair to say that Ubisoft has never exactly been the darling of gamers. They made a reputation of producing generic games which often release broken and sell for exorbitant prices. Their two latest titles, Star Wars: Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, are no exception. However, Ubisoft has also waded into the ongoing culture battle raging between gamers and developers, generating a lot of animosity between them and their customers.
Both titles have been criticized for woke messaging, including the decision to add a black samurai as the main character in a game set in feudal Japan. A move which not only irked gamers, but nearly caused an international incident after Japanese politicians picked up on the story. Outlaws meanwhile has been criticized for its ugly characters, poor animations, and buggy gameplay. The company has also been involved in controversies outside gaming, such as a 2020 sexual misconduct case, and more recently, leaked reports of an employee mentorship program that explicitly excludes men.
Stocks tumbled this week as Ubisoft’s woes continue to mount, dropping to $11.73 per share at the time of writing. Down 20.35% in the past week alone, and 57.22% in the past year.
Now minority investor Juraj Krupa of AJ Investments and Partners has penned an open letter to the board of directors, demanding the company either go private, or be sold off to a strategic investor.
“The current strategic direction under the Guillemot family’s leadership has led to repeated delays and missed opportunities, which have resulted in significant financial underperformance,” the letter said. Krupa also accused Guillemot and Tencent of discounting potential value in the company in order to buy more shares, and called for a shakeup in the c-suite.
“We value the great work that has been done by the Guillemots over the decades in the Ubisoft but now is time to move on and restart the business with new shareholder approach and new management/CEO.” Krupa also called for further staff optimization, as well as called for the company to focus on its core IPs.
“Concentrate resources and execution on the development of core IPs that have proven to generate the majority of Ubisoft’s revenue. Titles like Rainbow Six Siege, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Tom Clancy’s titles such Sprintel [sic] Cell should be prioritized and cherished, ensuring they maintain their market-leading positions.”
With Star Wars: Outlaws failing to meet expectations, Ubisoft is now banking heavily on the success of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Though with the controversies, along with a poorly received gameplay trailer, the outlook isn’t so good. Gaming personality Stuttering Craig of the Side Scrollers Podcast said he’d received insider information pointing to low pre-orders for the game.
“My insider told me that, as of this morning at their nation wide big box chain, Assassins’ Creed Shadows has less than 800 pre-orders combined for Xbox & PS5 company wide. They have over 900 stores. That is less than 1 preorder per store. YIKES.” This was as of August 29th, 2024.
Ubisoft and MMNTech have a long, shall we say… history, dating back to their awful broken and DRM riddled PC releases of the mid-2000s. While the company has managed to put out a few decent games over the years, you’ll note that all of them are now over a decade old at this point. It’s fair to say their best days are long behind them. Gamers have lost a great deal of trust given their low quality releases and open hostility towards fans. I doubt many will be crying if they do go belly up. Hopefully their few decent IPs will be bought up by a publisher who actually cares.