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[StreetsofBeige]

Overall it doesn't look good with that many many employees and borrowing money. I'd guess they have to downsize and get some excitement in the shooter space.

According to a google check, only MS has more gaming employees. Although that number includes Activision.

To be fair, employee count can be fudged pending how many contractors a company hires. Contractors arent counted as official head count. If anyone knows what the total "worker" count is for each big company that would be a more accurate number. But official employee count is still important t know since they are FT with benefits, severance payouts if fired, and bonuses paid. Typically they will cost more than a contract worker who can do temp gigs.

UBI at about 19,000 employees is insane. MS is at 20,000+ with Activision. UBI has more than even EA and Sony. If MS and Activision were still separate, UBI would have the most employees in the industry.

When times are good, any company can float high head count. But once things tank, get ready for those huge layoff costs.

For sake of a random calculation, if UBI cut 4,000 people to get to 15,000, and the avg person got $30,000 severance, that's $120M alone.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

It has nothing to do with that.

I don't think it's the only factor, but to suggest their ideological shift and insistence isn't relevant.. I'm not so sure about that.

 

[Bradamante3D]

How are they any different from EA, Take Two etc?

The difference is that EA has stable financial income due to their annual release sports titles, and Take Two of course is behind popular brands a la Grand Theft Auto. I wouldn't be surprised if 2025 is the final year for Ubisoft in one way shape or form, where they either declare bankruptcy outright; or they get bought after the stock price plummets; or they split into multiple subsidiaries, with some going bankrupt.

Anyway, the facts and arguments made in the article that the OP links to, are well made and mostly already known. Skull and Bones was too expensive, that could be seen as the beginning of the end. Let's add some from the top of my head:

_ Absurdely high development costs in French speaking countries/cities, i.e. France, French Canada etc.
_ Lack of a franchise with predictable annual income; the closest Ubisoft ever had were those dance games of course
_ Focus on IP's like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry, while not evolving their concepts or title characters, riding their limited formula to the grave
_ Generic "tower based" open world designs applied to multiple IPs
_ Lack of focus on games that are cheaper to develop, have a better defined audience, smaller scope, but can grow out of a niche, i.e. For Honor
_ Lukewarm, unfocused stage presentations at E3, with weird feel good moments on stage with their own developers, instead of wow-ing audiences with a few good titles
_ Lack of a title character in Ubisoft games that can carry audiences from game to game (Master Chief, Marcus Fenix, Nathan Drake, Aloy etc.)

 

[simpatico]

They are barely woke man stop the hyperbole

CHALLENGE: Scrub to any time in this "all cutscenes" Watch Dogs Legion video and find me one single moment that is not the wokest thing you're ever seen.



Ubi really deserves it. I get that it's kinda sad, but we just need to let nature take its course. Don't be sad they're gone, be happy they were here.

 

[MMaRsu]

CHALLENGE: Scrub to any time in this "all cutscenes" Watch Dogs Legion video and find me one single moment that is not the wokest thing you're ever seen.



Ubi really deserves it. I get that it's kinda sad, but we just need to let nature take its course. Don't be sad they're gone, be happy they were here.

Did not play Legion thankfully but Im sure its terrible

 

[Ozriel]

2 x parts

Go woke go broke

What was ‘woke’ about xDefiant, immortals Fenix Rising, Avatar, Skull and Bones and the bulk of their games?

 

[Robot Carnival]

didn't they lean hard into NFT or something when it was already going downhill? how much of those investments woulda helped if it's used in a better way?

 

[kruis]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

I believe most people dont give a shit about any ethnic celebration, but many companies jam it in for optics, or to satisfy the small number of vocal employees for bitch and moan about it.

I'm 100% confident when it comes to any kind of holiday, special recognition day or month, people care more about whether there's free lunch that day or if it's a federal day off than the actual content.

It's like Cinco De Mayo. Our company will order for the entire floor tacos, spanish rice and churros. Great food. Everyone loves it. I highly doubt anyone knows jack shit what the holiday or event is even about. All people know is May 5th is Mexican food day.

 

[Wolves hunt in packs]

Ubi will never die, it will live in our hearts.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

This. Nobody in Europe gives a flying fuck, they find it creepy and patronising. Reminds me of (I think) French black minister when she mentioned how she was unaware of her blackness till she came to the US and studied there. People were like: “Bitch, you got brainwashed, it’s not what you think it is lol”.

 

[winjer]

 

[Plague Doctor]

I believe most people dont give a shit about any ethnic celebration, but many companies jam it in for optics, or to satisfy the small number of vocal employees for bitch and moan about it.

I'm 100% confident when it comes to any kind of holiday, special recognition day or month, people care more about whether there's free lunch that day or if it's a federal day off than the actual content.

It's like Cinco De Mayo. Our company will order for the entire floor tacos, spanish rice and churros. Great food. Everyone loves it. I highly doubt anyone knows jack shit what the holiday or event is even about. All people know is May 5th is Mexican food day.

The other to consider is that it's low hanging fruit content for marketing and by extension social media.

It's an easy space filler and the execs expect it. Marketing will leap on this as validation they are indeed working to their management.

It's 'nontent' at the end of the day that isn't pushing the needle for anything aside from keeping a small quadrant who value social issues placated. Wouldn't want idiots on social media asking why a company isn't giving to gratuitous image and platitudes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

You seriously think people actually give a fuck about some 'Black history month'? Especially in Europe? LOL

This. Nobody in Europe gives a flying fuck, they find it creepy and patronising. Reminds me of (I think) French black minister when she mentioned how she was unaware of her blackness till she came to the US and studied there. People were like: “Bitch, you got brainwashed, it’s not what you think it is lol”.

In Canada, Black History Month has been going on, but it's more recently a bigger thing. I only noticed the Canadian offices bringing it up at companies i worked at the past 5 or so years as their own pow wow instead of just seeing forwarded messages the US office does. But the US is way longer than that.

I'm going assume anyone whose company is very US centric (like mine) may have US politics and holiday info spread out through all regions. It's going to be one part corporate pushing and one part laziness to adjust messages to each region. Our company's intranet system is US based. So all the news you get is US stuff. If you want see your region's info, you got to dig through some buried links and look for your country whose content is like 5% what the US site does.

But it goes beyond regional website info because even the CEO's celebration memos are all US based. So you could be a guy living in the UK and CEO Billy Bob will send copy you on a memo reminding you US Thanksgiving holiday is coming soon so have fun and safe travels. So I see all the memos about MLK and BHM and US holidays. But he'll never send anyone a reminder of the Canadian Thanksgiving date which is a month earlier.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The other to consider is that it's low hanging fruit content for marketing and by extension social media.

It's an easy space filler and the execs expect it. Marketing will leap on this as validation they are indeed working to their management.

It's 'nontent' at the end of the day that isn't pushing the needle for anything aside from keeping a small quadrant who value social issues placated. Wouldn't want idiots on social media asking why a company isn't giving to gratuitous image and platitudes.

Good point.

BTW, I had to google what "nontent" meant. lol

 

[Plague Doctor]

Good point.

BTW, I had to google what "nontent" meant. lol

It's a good word that describes a lot of what corpos crap out on their social media feeds.

 

[Damigos]

That's a bet that will pay well if they manage to climb back to success.
A bit less if they actually end up bankrupting entirely.

For better or worse Shadow is going to give them a temporary injection of cash. The question is if it will be a smashing hit or if it will under-perform compared to the rest of the series.
The second and even more important question is if they have ANYTHING lined up after that or it will be a couple of years of complete void after AC Shadow.

Void seems more likely. Especially after the rumours that the Guillemort (or whatever) are actually seeking buyers to buy them

 

[rm082e]

I know they have Anno 117 coming this year, but that's never a big seller. Does that mean Far Cry 7 is the next big title for them after Shadows? And that's not until 2026?

 

[Jinzo Prime]

Europe? Nope, not at all. Regular gamers in the US and Canada? Highly doubtful. But US/Canadian journalists? Absolutely. Ubisoft Montreal?

Black History Month: Jonathan Fado & Representation Beyond Our Familiar Horizons - Ubisoft Montréal

montreal.ubisoft.com

Being “Authentically Us” During Black History Month

Writer Arden Youngblood and Content Director Gilles Matouba discuss the significance of Black History Month, getting started in videogames, and being authentic at work.

news.ubisoft.com

They must be hoping for a "Black Panther" moment for this game. The first BP movie released during Black History Month and did gangbusters. I think the loss in sales from the Japanese market will be relatively softened by the gains from fervid Americans, but I guess we'll see.

 

[Meicyn]

I know they have Anno 117 coming this year, but that's never a big seller. Does that mean Far Cry 7 is the next big title for them after Shadows? And that's not until 2026?

Very likely. The Division 3 is in production right now at Massive and they are actively hiring for key positions. But it’s likely we won’t see it until 2028. They’ve got support studios working on The Division 2 DLC set to release in March or April and probably other stuff for that game since Ubisoft realized about two years ago that they should have never abandoned the IP. As an active player, I noticed they’ve significantly ramped up the production and sale of cosmetics in The Division 2, which only makes sense if there are a meaningful quantity of folks buying them.

 

[Saiyan-Rox]

Give me full control I'll have them profitable again within 4-5 business years

 

[Mister Wolf]

I kinda tempted buy the dip. Should I?

 

[Wintereq]

Give me full control I'll have them profitable again within 4-5 business years

Will you release a remake of Far Cry "1"? If yes then sign me in. xD