Live games keep cash flow steady as Ubisoft readies for big launches

While Ubisoft’s next quarter is on track to reap the benefits of both a new Watch Dogs and new Assassin’s Creed game, the French game company’s Q2 was quieter on the game release front.

Still, Ubisoft says it managed to beat internal targets for the first half of the 2020-21 year, thanks in no small part to the company’s sizable catalog of live games like Rainbow Six Siege and its ‘diversified portfolio’ of backcatalog games.

For the six months ending September 30, 2020, Ubisoft reported €754.7 million (~$881.2 million) in net bookings, up 14 percent from the same period last year. As always, and no doubt helped along by the current pandemic, the bulk of those net bookings, €655.4 million (~$765.2 million) came from digital sources.

Rainbow Six Siege and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey were both listed as games that made a particularly strong showing during Q2, with Siege surpassing 65 million registered players and a lifetime consumer spend of 2.5 billion while Assassin’s Creed managed massive gains in sell-through, engagement, and PRI when compared to its predecessor.

"We are proud of our teams for demonstrating amazing dedication and resilience during these challenging times,especially considering that a clear majority of our developers are still working from home," reads a statement from CFO Frédérick Duguet. "They have continued to deliver outstanding Live services and content at a high cadence while simultaneously developing the most ambitious line-up in the industry."

We continue to look at the year ahead with confidence and can’t wait to have players get their hands on our games. That starts today with Watch Dogs: Legion,which has solid ratings, and will be followed by Assassin’s Creed Valhalla,which is set to be one of this holiday season’s biggest mainstream titles, and by Immortals Fenyx Rising, our brand-new, fresh and light-hearted IP. Thanks to our early positioning,we expect the strong momentum of next gen consoles to be a material catalyst for our games."