In its 2019-20 full-year fiscal earnings report, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said the company may have to delay one of its planned major game releases due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While it is not entirely clear which of the five titles Ubisoft is planning to release in the 2020-21 fiscal year would be pushed, this would be an interesting development considering the company announced 11 of its games have sold over 10 million units so far this generation.
Within the summary at the top of the report, Ubisoft lists the titles which it believes demonstrates "the depth and strength" of its portfolio. The games, all of which come from major franchises, are: Assassin's Creed Unity (2014), Assassin's Creed Origins (2017), Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018), The Division (2016), The Division 2 (2019), Far Cry 4 (2014), Far Cry 5 (2018), Ghost Recon Wildlands (2017), Rainbow Six Siege (2015), Watch_Dogs (2014), and Watch_Dogs 2 (2016).
While it is unlikely more new titles will be joining this prestigious club considering companies like Ubisoft are focused on games to be released on the impending next-generation PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, including the highly-anticipated Assassin's Creed Valhalla, smaller releases are still planned for the near future. According to the report, Ubisoft will put out three digital-only releases before the end of this year's first quarter in June 2020: For Honor Year 4 — Season 2, Monopoly on Google Stadia, and Rainbow Six Siege Year 5 — Season 2.
During a Q&A at the end of the report presentation, Guillemot said that if the opportunity for mergers or acquisitions come up, Ubisoft may acquire another developer — particularly in the mobile space — to increase its catalog of live games while life has been affected by the pandemic. Its current targets for this year have already been shifted to reflect the "potential impact" of the virus, so Ubisoft is expecting to make an operating income between 400 and 600 million euros, or approximately $430 million to $650 million.
The ongoing pandemic has had sweeping impacts across the video game industry, including on institutions with which companies used to announce their upcoming titles like E3 and the Game Developers Conference. Recently, Ubisoft announced it will be streaming an event called "Ubisoft Forward" on June 12 at 12 p.m. PDT to replace its canceled E3 festivities.
As the end of the fiscal year rolled around in March, other companies like Nintendo similarly reported high sales numbers over the last year, contributing to wide-spread success in the current generation of consoles before the world began to shut down. Hopefully, Ubisoft carries its success into the next generation by continuing to produce games its fans are excited to play.
Source: Ubisoft