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[Astray]

Ubisoft Being Pressured To Go Private As Share Prices Continue To Fall

As Ubisoft shares continue to fall, a minority investor is making public calls for the company to go private in the near future.

insider-gaming.com

Seems like Ubisoft are now tussling with an activist investor.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

Go woke, go broke.

 

[solecon64]

I remember when Ubisoft were in danger of being acquired by Vivendi, I was actually rooting for Ubi back then. A lot of people were.

Nobody's rooting for Ubisoft this time.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

what does that mean.... acquisition time?

 

[Jaybe]

 

[Gaiff]

Go woke, go broke.

Let's not blame that on culture wars. Ubisoft has just been sucking for years and it was long overdue.

 

[cormack12]

 

[Magic Carpet]

Now I feel bad I still have not bought the Avatar Pandora. It's on my wish list but I keep thinking it will be given away free on Epic Store soon.

 

[Bitstream]

Let's not blame that on culture wars. Ubisoft has just been sucking for years and it was long overdue.

Exactly, the culture wars weren't why ubisoft has blatantly lied on every gameplay reveal trailer for the past 20 years.

 

[AyraSutoraifu]

Let's not blame that on culture wars. Ubisoft has just been sucking for years and it was long overdue.

I know, just let me make the joke...

 

[Hookshot]

Strange that not long ago their share price was riding high, people had changed their opinions on Ubi, the Assassins creed games were popular once more, they had a successful team up with Nintendo, their multiplayer games were doing well and now they are in the dumps with people hating them and Ray man relegated to the dlc of a sequel no body cared for.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I guess there’s only so many times you can rescan the exact same games. I love Assassin’s Creed games because I love the historical settings but it doesn’t matter if you’re playing Assassin‘s Creed, far cry, avatar, whatever else there are all identical mission and game structure with a different skin.

I still have no idea why the a large portion of the industry decided to follow suit and do the same.

Bring linear your games back.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

$90 stock years ago. Now about $20.

 

[Elios83]

They destroyed themselves refusing to innovate their stale gameplay formulas while chasing the gaas dream and ruining or killing all their previous big series because they couldn't generate the profits some idiots wanted to see.
It's deserved.

 

[R6Rider]

Bring linear your games back.

Believe in the Splinter Cell Remake.

 

[Mownoc]

"AJ Investments holds less than a 1% share in Ubisoft" Lol, that's a lot of pressure.

But Ubisoft is in an awful place right now. Not sure what lies ahead for them.

 

[Da1337Vinci]

Looking grim for ubi. Trust seems to be completely gone from mainstream, gamers to investors in their capabilities to create hits.

Either Assassin Creed Shadow is a hit or they have many games ready for the switch 2.

These will at least give ubi more leeway and time to dig themselves out of the hole they put themselves in.

 

[intbal]

Believe in the Splinter Cell Remake...

...for modern audiences

 

[Draugoth]

Their games will keep bombing if they dont listen to customers. I refuse to buy these bloated open world games made with no passion.

 

[Alebrije]

I remember when Ubisoft were in danger of being acquired by Vivendi, I was actually rooting for Ubi back then. A lot of people were.

Nobody's rooting for Ubisoft this time.

Same feeling becuase present UBI is the half on Quality than the One of Vivendi era.

And is not because they "woke" stuff is because their copy/paste gameplay mechacnics. They spoiled Massive studios ,instead of División 3 they put Massive to work on two generic games Avatar and Star Wars Outlaws.

They killed Rayman, Splinter Cell, Beyond good and evil and thier "indie" works that delivered games like Child of Light.

So while they were resting over thier dirt pile of generic games other developers delivered better and more fun games. On this industry if You lack of imagination You are dead.

 

[Bernardougf]

Let's not blame that on culture wars. Ubisoft has just been sucking for years and it was long overdue.

I think there is direct correlation and they dont have to envolve extremely woke stuff in games or ugly women... but thats another thread subject.

On topic... dont care ... their games have been shit for quite some time ... peaking with gollum star wars and probably hip hop samurai.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

UBI games seem very cookie cutter. it's like aside from Just Dance and RS, the rest of their games are big open world action and adventure games. Got to admit, their games typically have scope and presentation. Too much HUD for my tastes, but they usually dont have a bargain bin feel to them.

I think for a lot of people, thats a big selling point (lots of shit to roam around and do), so their games sell pretty well overall I think. Not everything (Skull and Bones and I think years ago some snowboarding game?) but AC, Far Cry, this SW game will probably sell well on branding alone. And Division 3 will probably sell well too if it comes out.

 

[TransTrender]

EHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I really don't give a shit what a Slovakian minority investor says.

 

[paolo11]

Let's not blame that on culture wars. Ubisoft has just been sucking for years and it was long overdue.

I agree on the Ubisoft being bad however the culture wars is also a factor (major or minor).

 

[StreetsofBeige]

$90 stock years ago. Now about $20.

My mistake. It was over 90 Euros years back. Now 13 and change. Was at 23 in July.

Ubisoft Entertainment SA (UBI.PA) Stock Price, News, Quote & History - Yahoo Finance

Find the latest Ubisoft Entertainment SA (UBI.PA) stock quote, history, news and other vital information to help you with your stock trading and investing.

finance.yahoo.com

Game developer Ubisoft slides amid muted reception for 'Star Wars Outlaws'

Shares in French video game maker Ubisoft fell on Tuesday for a second consecutive day following a sluggish performance of its two recent releases, including the long-awaited "Star Wars Outlaws". The decline was driven by a muted reception of Star Wars Outlaws, released on Friday, which follows...

finance.yahoo.com

(Reuters) - Shares in French video game maker Ubisoft fell on Tuesday for a second consecutive day following a sluggish performance of its two recent releases, including the long-awaited "Star Wars Outlaws".

The shares, which closed 5.1% lower on Monday, were down 2.4% by 1114 GMT, trading at their lowest levels since 2015 and adding to their over 30% drop since the start of the year.

The decline was driven by a muted reception of Star Wars Outlaws, released on Friday, which follows lower than expected interest for the company's free-to-play game Xdefiant, said Midcap Partners analyst Charles-Louis Planade.

The Outlaws premiere was one of the two big major game releases Ubisoft had slated for this year, with Assasin's Creed Shadows scheduled for release on Nov. 15.

After four years of negative cash flows amid game cancellations and delays, the family-owned company has been betting on these releases to support its financial recovery.

Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet said in July that Ubisoft expected the launch of Outlaws to boost net bookings in the July-September quarter.

Despite an overall positive reception by critics, Star Wars Outlaws had a "generally unfavorable" users' score of 4.9 out of 10 on review aggregation website Metacritic as of Tuesday.

"Star Wars Outlaws has struggled to meet our sales expectations despite positive critical reviews," J.P.Morgan analyst Daniel Kerven said in a note.

The game's development budget was at least 30% higher than that of Assasin's Creed Mirage, released last year, while data from video game live-streaming platform Twitch suggested it was underperforming AC Mirage by about 15%, Kerven added.

Kerven also lowered his sales expectations for Outlaws by 2 million units, to 5.5 million units in the year through March 2025.

Planade added that after a strong initial interest for Xdefiant, a first-person shooter game launched in May, there has been a sharp decline in Twitch viewership, and the game would likely have a minimal impact on Ubisoft's results over the next few quarters.

Ubisoft did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on Tuesday. On Monday, it declined to comment on the games' performance.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

UBI games seem very cookie cutter. it's like aside from Just Dance and RS, the rest of their games are big open world action and adventure games. Got to admit, their games typically have scope and presentation. Too much HUD for my tastes, but they usually dont have a bargain bin feel to them.

I think for a lot of people, thats a big selling point (lots of shit to roam around and do), so their games sell pretty well overall I think. Not everything (Skull and Bones and I think years ago some snowboarding game?) but AC, Far Cry, this SW game will probably sell well on branding alone. And Division 3 will probably sell well too if it comes out.

Their more indie games are almost always excellent - Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, Prince of Persia, etc. It’s just that they are unwilling to spend big money on anything that is not GAAS or their major franchise, but God forbid you try and change things radically there.

 

[ComputerBlue]

Believe in the Splinter Cell Remake.

I just realized there’s a your in my sentence for some reason.

Yeah we’ll see, but I’m expecting it to be open world, just like Breakpoint.

 

[EverydayBeast]

Ghost recon and rainbow six I think didn’t show up like they thought, wildlands started good than they hurt that franchise with breakpoint (so bad), with siege it’s the worst makeover ever just completely different than old school R6.

 

[Astray]

what does that mean.... acquisition time?

Ubisoft is probably the furthest company from being acquired.

Not to mention the cost of money is way too high rn.

 

[Jack Package]

Believe in the Splinter Cell Remake.

I want to, but I can't. I'm the beaten spouse who finally had enough.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[Hudo]

Actually, this might be not the worst move. If Ubisoft can get investors off their backs, we might get good games again for a change.

 

[proandrad]

They should 100% go private. The pressure of trying to increase shareholder wealth every year is leading them toward terrible long term decisions.

 

[Physiognomonics]

Last good Ubisoft games were The Rayman games, FC4 and both AC Origins and AC Odyssey. Retrospectively we can say that those were definitely great games. It has been only downhill after those.

 

[DryvBy]

This is the way.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

There's a total correlation between going woke and making awful business decisions. One thing leads to the other. Hiring the worst talent possible doesn't impact videogames only, it has a deeper impact across the organization.

Once upon a time Ubisoft was an innovative company. Nowadays it's rotten to the core. If it doesn't correct its course, it will eventually crash.

 

[yazenov]

Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 Billion

Ubisoft is now worth $2 Billion?

I'd argue that Ubisoft is a better get than Bungie with all its IP. Sony is regretting that purchase now

 

[Fake]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

 

[Danny22]

I Personally do think the upcoming assassins creed will be a solid hit. I do think the star wars brand is somewhat diluted because of a lot of content in the past few years and whatever Ubisoft paid to disney or their marketing team wwas probably more than what they should have done.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 Billion

Ubisoft is now worth $2 Billion?

I'd argue that Ubisoft is a better get than Bungie with all its IP. Sony is regretting that purchase now

You never know. Someone might make an offer. The company stock used be 95 euros. Now at less than 14.

I remember the threads a couple years ago when Bungie and Activision were bought out and people were listing the market cap of Japanese companies, EA T2. UBI etc.... A who's next kind of thing. And UBI was at 8 Billion. Makes sense since around that time UBI stock was around 50 Euros.

 

[yazenov]

You never know. Someone might make an offer. The company stock used be 95 euros. Now at less than 14.

I remember the threads a couple years ago when Bungie and Activision were bought out and people were listing the market cap of Japanese companies, EA T2. UBI etc.... A who's next kind of thing. And UBI was at 8 Billion. Makes sense since around that time UBI stock was around 50 Euros.

Yeah basically buy the dip. Its dirt cheap now.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I bet they get scooped up by Tencent or Amazon. They still have a shitload of IPs and studios.

 

[Mr Moose]

Sony bought Bungie for $3.7 Billion

Ubisoft is now worth $2 Billion?

I'd argue that Ubisoft is a better get than Bungie with all its IP. Sony is regretting that purchase now

Fuck no. They have 20k employees don't they?
21k.

About Us | Ubisoft

Ubisoft enriches players' lives by creating original and memorable gaming experiences. Learn more about Ubisoft here.

www.ubisoft.com

Today, Ubisoft’s 45+ studios and more than 21,000 employees make up a diverse global team that helps us bring joy to all types of players from all over the globe.

 

[laynelane]

Lastly, the fund suggests making management changes, including the hiring of a new CEO to replace Yves Guillemot.

I wonder if this would make much of a difference. It was a number of years ago but I remember them announcing their intention to apply their open world formula to many (most?) of their IPs. It didn't evoke optimism for me and it seems that that formula is played out for many at this point. Then there's the bugs, the scaling down (lies) of games from what was shown in trailers, the idea that customers should be comfortable with not owning the products they pay for, the always online issue, etc.

A change in leadership may help, but the problems are long-standing and intrinsic to the company as of now. It will be interesting to see how this all pans out. The changes being requested are on the basis of longevity for the company and there's some good ideas in there. That said, a change in leadership seems unlikely.

 

[Camreezie]

Its all been downhill for them post 2014 imo

 

[StueyDuck]

I feel like there's this tiny part of Ubisoft who are still themselves in there somewhere, but that is a company that lost, ousted a large percentage of all their talent that put them on the map and put many people in positions of power that had no clue what they were doing.

Other companies need to see Ubi as a warning because they were doing what most others do now many years before them, they have a headstart in the game of the race to the bottom.

 

[Dusktildawn48]

Man she definitely has the most punchable face in the gaming industry.

 

[Zacfoldor]

Does anyone think Ubisoft has been managed properly? Anybody?

 

[Boss Mog]

This is nothing, it's really gonna drop big time when they release their feudal Japan game where for some reason you play as a gay black guy and nobody buys it.

The last good Ubisoft game was Ghost Recon Wildlands which released back in 2017.

 

[Hyet]

They are capable of making great games, they have to diversify and scale down. Not everything has to be a sprawling open world with high fidely graphics therefore making it too risky to venture out of The Formula™. Sadly prince of Persia sales hasn't been there to be able to support my argument. A part of me wants it to get this year's GOTY just to make a point but as others excellent titles release this year it will only be more difficult...