Ubisoft’s mobile earnings are down dramatically this fiscal year, plummeting from 35% of total bookings to a mere 7% over nine months. The rapid downfall is only increasing at that, down from 45% last Q3 to a minute 5% this time around.
Revenue from contracts with customers has fallen in turn, though only by 4.1% in the first nine months of Ubisoft’s fiscal year, to €1.44 billion. Conversely, net bookings have actually been on the rise, increasing by 1.6% to €1.49 billion compared to the same period last financial year.
Even so, Ubisoft’s Q3 report showcases just how much mobile has fallen by the wayside for the French publisher, not mentioned once among its recent successes.
A shift in focus
Ubisoft’s third fiscal quarter (the three months up to December 31) brought in €626.2 million in net bookings, proving marginally more successful than the €610 million forecast and driven by Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, The Crew Motorfest and the then-upcoming Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which has since released in Q4.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege saw an almost 60% rise in playtime and increased its playerbase too, further supporting the bookings boost.
The lack of mobile titles listed here again reflects the fall in the platform’s share of earnings – only 7% in the first nine months of the fiscal year, or approximately $101 million. PC, meanwhile, has generated 24% of Ubisoft’s net bookings and console 63%. “Others” accounted for the remaining 6%.
Comparing this platform distribution to Ubisoft’s last fiscal year, in the first nine months mobile represented 35% of net bookings – more than double PC’s 16%, though the roles have since reversed. Mobile was incredibly close behind console even, at 39%. One year on, console’s share is far ahead of all other platforms.
Ubisoft does, at least, have two upcoming mobile games that may bolster next year’s figure. A free-to-play Rainbow Six Mobile is on the way, as is Tom Clancy’s The Division: Resurgence, a mobile exclusive which has recently received approval for release in China too.
“Ubisoft recorded a solid third quarter, with net bookings slightly ahead of our expectations. This quarter provided us with positive momentum and marks the beginning of our turnaround to consistently creating and delivering high-quality, long-lasting games,” said Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.
“Our performance was driven by the releases of Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, by the continued strong trajectory of The Crew Motorfest, as well as by the robust performance of our back-catalogue.
“In Q3, we made further progress in streamlining our operations and, at the same time, saw overall talent retention continue to improve. We are firmly committed to continuing along this path in the months ahead to deliver on our cost-reduction targets and better position ourselves for collective success in the long term.”
Mobile’s share of revenues have been down throughout Ubisoft’s fiscal year, starting out in Q1 by generating only $30 million.
