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UBISOFT is dying - market shares collapse by 85% from 2021 to 2025
- Thread starter Nickolaidas
- Start date
Miles708
Member
Ubisoft willingly become synonymous of copy pasted design (even between wildly different genres like action and racing) while adding and championing every kind of anti consumer practice under the sun.
How bad do you have to become before people stop caring about your company? What is there to understand?
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Raven117
Member
They had some decent games there for a while. Nothing to win "GOTY" but certainly stuff to play while waiting for the big time releases. (Far Cry 3, 4, and 5. Assassins Creed, The Division, Rainbow 6 Siege). All solid B to sometimes even A- a few times.
But, they really completely wiffed this generation. I mean could not get it together. Sprinkle in some DEI on top of already completely missing the boat on game development, and whamo, here we are.
But, they really completely wiffed this generation. I mean could not get it together. Sprinkle in some DEI on top of already completely missing the boat on game development, and whamo, here we are.
HerjansEagleFeeder
Member
Let it die. Is well deserved. Talented people will easily find a new job.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
soccer??
FoxMcChief
Gold Member
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
You can't possibly believe this.
ComputerBlue
Member
I like a lot of their games, and I love exploring historical settings within the AC franchise, one of my favorite franchises, so them actually going down would be sad for me but what can you do, it is the path they chose to destroy themselves.
Cyberpunkd
Member
How is this different than MCU fatigue that makes every superhero movie bomb nowadays? People moved on, they don’t want the same things they were playing for 15 years. Mirage is the same as any AC, just with less bloat.
TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
The world needs another Rainbow Six Vegas.
FF:Enhanced_Reality
Member
I don't want anyone to lose their jobs or to see major publishers going into administration or being consolidated.
But the matter of fact is that Ubisoft has done this to themselves. With their work culture, their constant string of poor decisions, their lacklustre games. They've been ignoring Prince of Persia fans for years and they've scrapped the remake we'd already waited many years for to start again this time in house.
What about Beyond Good and Evil? Why didn't they scrap Skull and Bones when it clearly became a money pit?
It's just hundreds of millions of euros thrown away on terrible decision making and woeful leadership.
The company is virtually reliant on Assassin's Creed now and if that goes belly up, there isn't much in the tank to replace it.
But the matter of fact is that Ubisoft has done this to themselves. With their work culture, their constant string of poor decisions, their lacklustre games. They've been ignoring Prince of Persia fans for years and they've scrapped the remake we'd already waited many years for to start again this time in house.
What about Beyond Good and Evil? Why didn't they scrap Skull and Bones when it clearly became a money pit?
It's just hundreds of millions of euros thrown away on terrible decision making and woeful leadership.
The company is virtually reliant on Assassin's Creed now and if that goes belly up, there isn't much in the tank to replace it.
Pedro Motta
Member
Great buy, just for the IPs alone.
solecon64
Member
I honestly do. Give me one example of a good Ubisoft game that came out after 2005. Like genuinely good, not "just ok" slop.
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MMaRsu
Member
Absolutely Ubisofts own fault.
No Splinter Cell
no Beyond Good and Evil
no Prince of Persia for years and years
No AC Black Flag sequel.
No Rainbow Six game Besides the live service sheit.
Ghost Recon Breakpoints was trash as well
Make constant shitty updates to your singleplayer game
Introduce MTX and 'time savers' to not play the game you bought
Make your games not launch on Steam
Drm in all games.
Nothing innovative or what fans want.
Fuck this shitstick company.
No Splinter Cell
no Beyond Good and Evil
no Prince of Persia for years and years
No AC Black Flag sequel.
No Rainbow Six game Besides the live service sheit.
Ghost Recon Breakpoints was trash as well
Make constant shitty updates to your singleplayer game
Introduce MTX and 'time savers' to not play the game you bought
Make your games not launch on Steam
Drm in all games.
Nothing innovative or what fans want.
Fuck this shitstick company.
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Kacho
Gold Member
Rainbow Six Vegas was the bomb. Ubi was crushing it during the 360 generation.
Wolves hunt in packs
Member
Of their own team?
I can understand people not liking certain game/dev.. but to be happy with failure? never happened to me.
N1tr0sOx1d3
Given another chance
Look you have to stop making excuses for these companies. It seems like you are living in the past. Ubisoft haven’t dropped anything of quality for years.
Blizzard, BioWare, Ubisoft etc. The talent has long since left. These companies are husks of their former selves. The quality they once produced is no longer possible, not without major overhaul.
Furthermore, none of these companies acknowledge their failings, meaning they aren’t pursuing the drive for change, rather, continuing on the cycle of decline.
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That's fine, just don't buy their games if you don't like them.
18,000 people work there.
Very silly to hope for failure and for the majority of them to be thrown out of jobs.
The real cost of the acquisition is the massive staff count. Nobody’s going to add 18k people to payroll, and Microsoft is legally restrained from acquiring them, leaving only the likes of Sony and Tencent among others. And any acquisition would be followed by significant layoffs.
It’s a shitshow, all round
TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
*be Ubes*
*make Prince of Persia*
*make Prince of Persia, not starring Prince*
*"hey guys nice tech demo!"*
*make second game in Not Prince of Persia*
*Holy shit they liked it*
*start releasing historically themed games with heavy emphasis on historical accuracy and virtual tourism*
*make big pirate game, lots of booty, arrr*
*hire a workforce rivaling the population of a small country*
*No one in Ubisofuckistan thinks a black samurai slaughtering Asians in the street while a chingchongobongo rap beat plays might not, entirely accurately, depict feudal Japan.*
*current day*
*Ha*
*Haha, even*
*make Prince of Persia*
*make Prince of Persia, not starring Prince*
*"hey guys nice tech demo!"*
*make second game in Not Prince of Persia*
*Holy shit they liked it*
*start releasing historically themed games with heavy emphasis on historical accuracy and virtual tourism*
*make big pirate game, lots of booty, arrr*
*hire a workforce rivaling the population of a small country*
*No one in Ubisofuckistan thinks a black samurai slaughtering Asians in the street while a chingchongobongo rap beat plays might not, entirely accurately, depict feudal Japan.*
*current day*
*Ha*
*Haha, even*
mitch1971
Member
A weird bunch to say the least.
Acquisition are ruining gaming! Boo.
Those still free from the monopoly's grasp. Let them burn!!
BlackTron
Member
Except Ubi calls their own game AAA, takes forever to make it, markets it like the biggest event ever, offers a premium $100 version, but when we buy it we should have just expected mid THQ gaming popcorn not anything crazy...right.
When Disney got the Star Wars IP and made it some big epochal event, people laughed at the results. If Disney had just decided to make some crappy sci fi movies on their own time no one would have cared or called for anyone to get fired. Don't make a shit product masquerading as a real one, then troll fans as if the problem is them. If you partake in this toddler psychology you will fail simply as a course of nature no matter how many stans and influencers call it horrible for a job to be lost.
Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
I confess that I did want to support Ubisoft with Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed or Avatar and Far Cry, but they themselves limit the interaction of their world.
I want to make a GTA with Star Wars or Assassin's Creed but they limited me, that's why I didn't get excited and stop buying their games, they make them somewhat boring.
I want to make a GTA with Star Wars or Assassin's Creed but they limited me, that's why I didn't get excited and stop buying their games, they make them somewhat boring.
MLSabre
Member
If they don't sell a product I want it's not my responsibility to keep them afloat. I said this before and I'll say it again.
I'm a customer, not a charity. If they're on a downturn financially, they either change course or go bankrupt.
BlackTron
Member
That seems to be the subject of this thread yes.
The market liked Assassins Creed Valhalla. A lot. It’s probably their best earning AC game to date. They also dropped that well received PoP game.
Yeah, the other guy is right. Much of this is childish and ignorant bile. Their games are AAA by any definition of the term, most of their SP games aren’t made with very long development cycles as you claim and many of their past games were well received in the market despite the ‘cookie cutter’ feel of it.
They’ve had missteps with expensive licensed AAA stuff like Avatar and Outlaws…and they’ve spent a fortune trying to chase live service stuff that failed. But so far, the market is perfectly fine with the AC and Far Cry games.
If their games aren’t for you, then it’s best to just move on. But wanting them to be shuttered and thousands of devs fired because YOU personally don’t like their SP games…that’s just insane.
Kurotri
Member
Their situation is interesting to say the least. I wonder if they'll go the same route as THQ, basically going bankrupt and selling off their IPs to the highest bidder. Imagine Sony and MS duking it out for Assassin's Creed.
From what I understand it's either that, or Tencent saves their asses. But that can only happen if Ubi's leadership leaves, which they don't want to. Guess they'll go down with the ship.
Edit: I just remembered, in the event of that happening I think some studios/teams can be salvaged alongside their IPs. When THQ went under, Ubisoft actually bought their THQ Montreal studio and ingested them into their own workforce.
From what I understand it's either that, or Tencent saves their asses. But that can only happen if Ubi's leadership leaves, which they don't want to. Guess they'll go down with the ship.
Edit: I just remembered, in the event of that happening I think some studios/teams can be salvaged alongside their IPs. When THQ went under, Ubisoft actually bought their THQ Montreal studio and ingested them into their own workforce.
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RavageX
Member
I have to agree with several others, I don't get the hate, and sadly it's not with just this company. I swear it seems like a majority just like to hate things. I've enjoyed a lot of their games and they typically do a great job of supporting them(games) when they make mistakes. Breakpoint for example, they stuck with it as I recall.
I also don't get the hate with Outlaws, other than the fact the chick isn't hot by traditional means, the game is pretty decent and immersive.
They are also responsible for one of my all time favorites, Rocksmith 2014. I don't see anyone else trying shit like that. The new rocksmith isn't for me due to the subscription, but it seems to be going strong.
I have no interest in seeing them close up shop. All I wish is that they learn and keep trying. I say the same for many other companies. As far as I'm concerned, they have my trust/interest more than some companies, like the folks behind Cyberpunk.
I also don't get the hate with Outlaws, other than the fact the chick isn't hot by traditional means, the game is pretty decent and immersive.
They are also responsible for one of my all time favorites, Rocksmith 2014. I don't see anyone else trying shit like that. The new rocksmith isn't for me due to the subscription, but it seems to be going strong.
I have no interest in seeing them close up shop. All I wish is that they learn and keep trying. I say the same for many other companies. As far as I'm concerned, they have my trust/interest more than some companies, like the folks behind Cyberpunk.
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The management made all the wrong decisions and wasn't able to innovate.
They refused to seriously invest on new ideas and tried to reskin the same cookie cutter formula changing the name or adding a license, they're still pushing Assassin’s Creed, a 2006 game concept, as their staple product. They thought that GaaS was the future and the promised land to get easy profits, all their past iconic IPs that couldn't be turned easily into that template were left to die (Rayman, Splinter Cell, Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia).
The company at this point can only be an acquisition target. Even if the management took the right decisions today the effects would be seen in 4-5 years and with no success guarantee, they can't afford that on their own without an external financial help.
Someone has to invest to clean the house and restart giving themselves a 5 years plan to rebuild.
They refused to seriously invest on new ideas and tried to reskin the same cookie cutter formula changing the name or adding a license, they're still pushing Assassin’s Creed, a 2006 game concept, as their staple product. They thought that GaaS was the future and the promised land to get easy profits, all their past iconic IPs that couldn't be turned easily into that template were left to die (Rayman, Splinter Cell, Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia).
The company at this point can only be an acquisition target. Even if the management took the right decisions today the effects would be seen in 4-5 years and with no success guarantee, they can't afford that on their own without an external financial help.
Someone has to invest to clean the house and restart giving themselves a 5 years plan to rebuild.
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Dr.Morris79
Gold Member
Oh, right, I guess UBI has been on the side of the 'gamer' for years..
Real heroes they are.
kruis
Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
I don't get this complaint with regards to Ubisoft. Ubisoft doesn't overprice their "slop", the main game costs the same as other full-priced games from other publishers. And that's what the vast majority of people buy. Ubisoft has been producing optional expansion packs for many, many years by now and if you want you can buy a more expensive Gold edition that includes the main game plus the DLC/expansion packs/season pass contents/whatever. It's nothing new. But it's disingenuous to say their games cost 120 euro when the main game actually costs 80 euro (and can usually be picked up for much less than that if you wait a few months).
I bought a few of these (AC:Origins, AC:Odyssey and AC: Valhalla) and you got A LOT of high quality additional content on top of a base game that already took 100 hours to finish. The expansions for the most recent full-size AC game only kept getting bigger and more ambitious, they were IMO good value for money if you like the core gameplay.
My personal complaint was that the AC main games are getting bigger with each new game. I platinumed AC:Origins + DLC, I platinumed AC:Odyssey but finished only the first expansion pack (out of three) and in the case of AC:Valhalla, I finished the main game but never got to the DLC because it took me 140+ hours to finish the main game and every side quest and I was completely burned out on even more AC:V game play in France and Ireland.
N1tr0sOx1d3
Given another chance
I certainly don’t want anyone to close down or lose their jobs.
Bad games are bad games. They need to start treating their IPs with the respect they deserve.
OK, occasionally a good game comes out from these companies, certainly not a high enough consistency and certainly not up to the standard of their original counterparts.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Ubisoft: Get used to not owning your games.
Gamers: Get used to not having a game company
Gamers: Get used to not having a game company
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
UBI stock is worth $1.6B euros. and googling it, the Guillmot family owns 15-20% of shares (different sources have different numbers). But close enough.Their situation is interesting to say the least. I wonder if they'll go the same route as THQ, basically going bankrupt and selling off their IPs to the highest bidder. Imagine Sony and MS duking it out for Assassin's Creed.
From what I understand it's either that, or Tencent saves their asses. But that can only happen if Ubi's leadership leaves, which they don't want to. Guess they'll go down with the ship.
Edit: I just remembered, in the event of that happening I think some studios/teams can be salvaged alongside their IPs. When THQ went under, Ubisoft actually bought their THQ Montreal studio and ingested them into their own workforce.
The family is worth about $300M euros for sake of argument.
Personally, I dont even think the reason why they dont sell to Tencent has to do with control or family legacy. If UBI was a $100 stock like 5 years ago, I'd bet any money they'd dump it if the company was on hard times and stock still at $100 where their shares would be worth $2B. In fact, it'd be worth more than $2B since Tencent would add a premium to the stock like the usual 30% a lot of businesses offer.
The fam is probably hoping for a giant offer to get as close to $100 as possible because no doubt they look at the past stock price and hate to sell at lets say $20 ($13 now + a huge premium) when it used to be $100,
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kruis
Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
What anti-consumer practices are we talking about?
N30RYU
Member
That's what ppl did and why they will close instead of eat the cricisism and develop better games
TGO
Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I wasn't referring to the subject of the thread - I was referring to the disturbing glee and schadenfreude being shown as a result.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
When they spend millions to put out a bad product that's overpriced and a small amount of the market buy it...it just isn't sustainable or practical to keep doing it. And they keep doing it.
TastyPastry
Member
the ubisoft that made games like rainbow six vegas and graw has long been gone so i can't say i care if they die
BlackTron
Member
I'm not saying that if I had a button that would close Ubi in a second I'd press it. I wouldn't. I'm saying that if Ubi is in trouble it's their own fault. They lost about 10bn in value in 4 years. The people in charge put blinders on and refused to do what was necessary to course-correct. When you do that nature has a way of course-correcting for you. I would not support some sort of goverment bailout loan because "oh no muh jobs". They can work for other better CEOs and project managers who do a better job focusing on products people want that will provide them better job security.