Ubisoft "overperforms" in Q2, sees record first half for 2023-2024 fiscal year

Despite what seemed like a stable, albeit rocky start, Ubisoft has posted fairly strong financials for the first half of the 2023-2024 fiscal year. 

Its newest report notes that the developer's second quarter earnings were €554.8 million (or $584.07 million), "well above" initial projections of €350 million. Larger net bookings for the first half came to €822.4 million, up 17.6 percent from the €699.4 million of the 2022-2023 first half. 

The boost can be attributed to the "successful" release of Ubisoft's two big premium releases for the year: Assassin's Creed Mirage (October 5) and The Crew Motorfest (September 14). Mirage, developed by Ubisoft Bordeaux, was said to have launch week player numbers in line with both Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Assassin's Creed Origins.

Meanwhile, Motorfest from Ivory Tower held a franchise record for units sold, player spending, and season pass adoption rate in its first week. Neither game had specific sales numbers posted, though CEO Yves Guillemot noted both developers did a "wonderful job" preparing for their respective releases. 

On the heel of those two releases, Ubisoft's back catalog reached 694.6 million in net bookings, up 37.4 percent from 2022-2023's first half. Assassin's Creed saw a "sustained" performance with Mirage's launch, and The Crew 2 saw an all-time high in activity numbers during July. Q2 overall was a "record quarter" for larger franchise activity.

But the big winner of the bunch was Rainbow Six Siege (it often is), which is said to have a "remarkable performance" due to net bookings growth in the double digits. That specific game's bookings for the 2023-2024 first half are up by nearly 50 percent on a year-over-year basis.

Outside of its games' performance, Ubisoft touched on its involvement in the Microsoft-Activision Blizzard merger. With steaming rights to the latter developer's portfolio for the next 15 years, Guillemot noted the cloud game market has "strong potential, and Ubisoft can play a leading role in its realization."

"This deal will enable us to deliver even more experiences to more players across the world than ever before, one of the cornerstones of our strategy," he continued. 

Guillemot concluded his statement by saying the "positive momentum" for this fiscal year's first half "builds confidence for the rest of the year as well as for next fiscal year." The developer's 2023-2024 release slate currently includes Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Star Wars Outlaws. 

Somewhere in that mix, Skull & Bones is said to release during this fiscal year, too. But what won't be included is a "large game" once planned for Q4, but is now being planned to launch during the 2024-2025 year "so as to maximize its value creation."