Ubisoft touts 'solid' early 2024 financials, thanks xDefiant and reliable franchises

Ubisoft posted its financials for the first quarter of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and the French developer is pleased with its performance in several areas.

Net bookings for the quarter (which ended on June 30, 2024) hit €290 million (or $316.5 million). Not only is it up 8.3 percent from the same quarter for 2023-2024, it's also 5.5 percent ahead of the initial target of about €275 million.

xDefiant, the studio's new shooter which released back in May, was singled out for its "encouraging" start. The game amassed over 10 million players in the first two weeks, and has generally outperformed expectations and "strong" average revenue per day.

"We delivered a solid start to the year with net bookings above target, reaffirming that we are on the right track," said Yves Guillemot. The Ubisoft CEO went on to affirm its 2024-2025 plans involve launching new games and "positioning them as long-lasting value drivers."

Ubisoft is confident in its 2024 releases

The two big upcoming releases for 2024 are Star Wars Outlaws (due August 30) and Assassin's Creed Shadows (November 15). Both titles garnered strong reactions, he said, and further "highlighted the cutting-edge capabilities of our game engines."

In the case of Shadows, Guillemot noted that its incoming arrival saw the larger Assassin's Creed series overperform this quarter. Past entries like Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Assassin's Creed Origins have been repeatedly strong back catalog performers.

Speaking of franchises, Rainbow Six Siege was also praised for boosting session days by 34 percent (in average activity) and 18 percent (days per player). It's also had a "sustained level" of transactions and seen growth in monetization.

However, Ubisoft was elusive on the performance of its 2024 titles like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Skull & Bones. The former got no real mention (save for post-launch listing), and the latter still "performs well" in terms of engagement.

Looking ahead to 2024-2025's second quarter, the developer expects its net bookings to come in around €500 million. Two titles that won't make this year are Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division: Resurgence, which have been delayed.