Ubisoft scraps release of three game titles due to worsening macroeconomic conditions

Ubisoft, a Montreuil, France-headquartered video game publisher, announced this week that it decided to cancel the release of three games. The company said it also chopped its full-year financial targets and blamed the bad macroeconomic conditions for the moves.

Ubisoft said that the macroeconomic situation has worsened and it seems it will not improve any time soon. It said that these circumstances have pushed the video game industry into chaos and continue to be a plague at the moment.

As per CNBC, the French gaming firm also shared that its “Just Dance 2023” and “Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope” game titles did not do well in the market too. Ubisoft said that the poor performances of these games, coupled with the difficult economic environment, forced it to cancel the three games that have not been announced yet.

For its reduced full-year target, the company said it expects its 2022 net bookings to plunge by 10%. Prior to this forecast, it predicted a growth of 10% earlier. The expected net bookings that it expects to come in is €725 million or about $779.4 million, which is lower compared to its original target of €830 million.

“We are clearly disappointed by our recent performance,” Ubisoft’s co-founder and chief executive officer, Yves Guillemot, said in a press release. “We are facing contrasted market dynamics as the industry continues to shift towards mega-brands and everlasting live games, in the context of worsening economic conditions affecting consumer spending.”

He added, “Despite excellent ratings and players’ reception as well as an ambitious marketing plan, we were surprised by ‘Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope’ underperformance in the final weeks of 2022 and early January. ‘Just Dance 2023’ underperformed as well.”

Finally, the CEO said that due to the results, it is taking additional strategic and operational decisions with the approval of Ubisoft’s Board of Directors. He explained that this step is a “key” to continue adapting our organization, to further bolster their execution, and to make sure that they can deliver good games to players worldwide and great value creation.

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