Game news Ubisoft in trouble, F1 Manager 2022: the business news of the week
Sales figures, studio buyouts, financial statements, developer transfer window, investments… if these topics interest you, you’ve come to the right place. We provide you with an update on the business news of the past week.
Overview
- Ubisoft cancels three games after poor results
- Frontier cuts guidance after F1 Manager 2022 ‘underperformance’
- Veterans of Playground Games (Forza Horizon) founded the studio Maverick Games
- Just in the business news of the week
Ubisoft cancels three games after poor results
The year 2022 will certainly have been complicated for Ubisoft. During the first fiscal semester (April to September 2022), the French company had already announced heavy losses (190 million euros) and the cancellation of four games (Ghost Recon Frontline, Splinter Cell VR and two other unannounced titles). The end of the year will not have made it possible to raise the bar, on the contrary. While the next financial statement won’t be revealed until February 16, Ubisoft was forced to lead the way by releasing a communicated to comment on the disappointing sales of its games during the crucial Christmas period. Specifically those from the second Mario + Rabbids game and Just Dance 2023: “We are clearly disappointed with our recent performance (…) We were surprised by the underperformance of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope in the last weeks of 2022 and early January. Just Dance 2023 also underperformed”recognized CEO Yves Guillemot.
As a result, Ubisoft has taken it “significant additional strategic and operational decisions”. The first one the cancellation of three other unannounced projectsto “focus on building some of the most powerful Live brands and services in the industry”. The company also announces a write-off of EUR 500 million in capitalized R&D, reflecting this “should focus on fewer titles”. Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon and The Division are the big brands Ubisoft wants to bet on, in particular by rejecting them with “sustained live games” intended to generate recurring revenue. Skull and Bones also falls into this category, but its launch has been postponed again from March 9, 2023 to the start of the next fiscal year (April, May, or June). Until then, players can start a new beta phase. “We believe that players will be positively surprised by its evolution. We have decided to postpone the launch in order to have more time to present the game experience much more “polished” and balanced and to build its visibility”said Guillemot. The game should therefore land in the same fiscal year as Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and “other yet unannounced premium games, including a hefty one, as well as promising free-to-play titles for some of our biggest brands”.
The consequences of these decisions on the results of the current financial year will be significant: while Ubisoft expected an operating profit of 400 million euros, the company should ultimately suffer a loss of 500 million euros. To capitalize on this, a net cost base reduction of more than €200 million is expected over the next two years. In particular, this will result in “targeted restructuring” and with “the sale of certain non-essential assets”. The statement ends on a reassuring note: “Ubisoft’s financial position is strong with approximately €1.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents after repayment of the €500 million bond maturing at the end of the month”, we can read. Do not forget that the Chinese giant Tencent injected 300 million into the family holding company Guillemot last September. An operation that should enable the founders of Ubisoft to prevent a hostile takeover.
Frontier cuts guidance after F1 Manager 2022 ‘underperformance’
After a mixed 2021 marked by unusual first-half losses and disappointing sales for Jurassic World Evolution 2, Frontier Developments was counting on F1 Manager 2022 to raise the bar in 2022. Released on August 30 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, the management game is off to a good start, as a press release from the British studio tells us: “Player engagement during the launch period was solid and in line with our initial expectations”, we can read. On the other hand, sales during the peak period of the end-of-year festivities did not meet the set targets. To this day, he counts as nearly 600,000 copies soldwhich is considered by the company as one “substandard”.
F1 Manager 2022 is no less “a good first game of an important new annual franchise”, but these results lead Frontier to lower its forecast for the current fiscal year (June 2022 to May 2023). The expected turnover is no longer £135 million, but “of at least 100 million”. A performance that will depend, among other things, on the outcome of the next games published by the Frontier Foundry label, namely Deliver Us Mars The Great War: Western Front, scheduled for February 2, 2023 and for the course of 2023 respectively. also an in-house developed real-time strategy game Warhammer Age of Sigmar that will be released in Spring 2023 at the earliest.
Frontier expects to release the full balance sheet for the first fiscal half (June to November 2022) on January 19. Today’s press release already highlights that Jurassic World Evolution 2 and Planet Zoo were the top performing contributors during the period.
Veterans of Playground Games (Forza Horizon) founded the studio Maverick Games
A new studio is born, and it promises a lot. Present at Playground Games since the birth of the Forza Horizon series, of which he later became the creative director, Mike Brown announced that he had left the Microsoft team to create Maverick Games. A new team, still modest (10 people), but which also includes other former Playground executives such as Tom Butcher (Executive Producer), Matt Craven (Technical Director), Gareth Harwood (Technical Artistic Director), Frasier Strachan (Director of Audio ) and Ben Penrose (art director). Completing the workforce is Harinder Sangha, a former Sega and Codemasters, who is responsible for overseeing studio operations, allowing Mike Brown to focus on the creative side.
Already in preparation, their first game will be a “Open world AAA to be released on PC and consoles”but not necessarily articulated around vehicles, despite the team’s heritage. “Before I am someone who enjoys driving, I would clearly describe myself as a guy who loves open worlds first and foremost. The game will be open world, it will be AAA, it will be premium, it will have the ambition have to win everything. Prizes”announces Mike Brown in the columns of games industry. To realize its ambitions, Maverick Games can count on the support of a London-based investor who can provide financial stability to the studio, which is looking to grow so quickly to 140 employees.
Just in the business news of the week
- According to data from GamesIndustry. Overall console sales were down 25% from 2021, with a total of 5.3 million machines sold.
- The top 10 bestsellers of 2022 in the United States have been announced. In order are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Elden Ring, Madden NFL 23, God of War Ragnarok, LEGO Star Wars The Skywalker Saga, Pokemon Scarlet/Purple, FIFA 23, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Horizon Forbidden West, and MLB The Show 22 It should be noted that digital sales of Nintendo games are not included in this ranking.
- Since its debut in 2018, Deep Rock Galactic has sold a total of 5.5 million. The co-op game from Coffee Stain Publishing and Ghost Ship Games has set itself apart by posting increasingly flattering numbers, with 2022 being its best year with 2.3 million sales. He also claimed a nice daily average of 113,700 players on Steam.
- Garth DeAngelis, one of the main producers of the XCOM franchise and the recent Marvel’s Midnight Suns, has announced his departure after 14 years with the Firaxis studio.
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