One other from bad to worse scenario is unraveling as Ubisoft shares plummeted by nearly 40% following its latest try and change into fiscally sustainable. The challenge of getting Ubisoft above water appears to be a never-ending slate of 1 bad decision followed by one other, and from its stockholders to its employees, few appear to trust in co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.
From layoffs to strikes and no end in sight of cancelled projects, one might wonder what’s left at Ubisoft. Its stocks have sunk by roughly 40% in a matter of days and are down by 95% since 2021 (via OC3D), and it is claimed to expect a $1.17 billion operating loss in FY26. Staff morale continues to sink amid ongoing restructuring, with claims of excessive pay increases for high-level positions, while many lower-level staff proceed to go without raises. The next per GameIndustry.biz.
“”The corporate is constant its cost reduction and lay off plan. Our teams are already working under pressure, often understaffed. After several years without pay rises (or very small increases), we understand that after again, employees is not going to receive a raise this yr, At the identical time, the reorganisation is creating numerous high-level positions with excessive salaries.”
Marc Rutschlé, Solidaires Informatique union representative at Ubisoft Paris
Given the quantity of culling and reorganization happening, Ubisoft could also be prepping itself to be sold. Rumors regarding this possibility have persevered in recent months. Meanwhile, just last week, six more games were cancelled, including the Prince of Persia remake, which led to its latest stock market crash, leaving the publisher with none major releases set for this yr.
“Ubisoft has discontinued 6 games that don’t meet the brand new enhanced quality in addition to more selective portfolio prioritization criteria at Group level. These include Prince of Persia The Sands of Time remake in addition to 4 unannounced titles, including 3 latest IP’s, and a mobile title.
In parallel, the Group will allocate additional development time to 7 games with a purpose to ensure enhanced quality benchmarks are fully met and maximise long-term value creation. This includes the unannounced title initially planned for FY26, that has been delayed to FY27.”
– Ubisoft
So what’s left? Word has it that Watch Dogs might survive the present carnage, but there’s some confusion and disagreement regarding it. Beyond Good and Evil 2 can have also survived, in addition to the Assassin’s Creed IV remake. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess, and if Ubisoft does get sold, it’s all but a guarantee the brand new owner(s) would likely utilize the common strategy of yet more layoffs to offset debts, which could further jeopardize the aforementioned projects.
It might be unrealistic to liken the present situation to dark clouds on the horizon, as things have been going from bad to worse for nearly a decade now, and while there have been occasional rays of sunlight, they’re few and infrequent (we now have many stories reporting on the ups and downs of the corporate, which might be found here).