Ubisoft, the gaming giant behind such titles as Far Cry, Assassin’s Creed, and Watch_Dogs, is coming up short in the stock market. They are currently trading at $10.37 per share, the lowest price the company has seen since May of 2017.
On Thursday, the company released a warning to investors stating that they were expecting nearly half as much revenue as they had previously stated. They also noted that they would be pushing back the release of three titles (Gods & Monsters, Rainbow Six Quarantine and Watch_Dogs Legion) to the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
In the warning, Ubisoft’s CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot said the reasoning behind this move had to do with the reception of their latest title, Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
“While the game’s quality appeared on track – based on E3, Gamescom, previews and our latest internal playtests –, critical reception and sales during the game’s first weeks were very disappointing.”
Online commenters have weighed in on the topic from a variety of angles. Redditor /u/cissoniuss feels that this may not be a bad move on Ubisoft’s part.
Best thing for the long term though. Having 3 games flop (well 4 if we add Ghost Recon to it) would have been even worse and just sunk their investment. This way they can bounce back if the games do sell well, which they now have a higher chance to.
But not all commenters have been as forgiving to the company as others. A large contingent of gamers feels that the company has been producing products that use predatory DLC, microtransaction, and loot box mechanics in a predatory way. Others feel that the majority of promises made by game companies feel hollow at this point and are unwilling to believe a decision like this will have any tangible benefits for consumers.
Since this warning was issued, Ubisoft’s stock value dropped 16% by the market’s close on Friday.
