Ubisoft Reports Full-Year 2023-24 Earnings Figures

UBISOFT REPORTS FULL-YEAR 2023-24 EARNINGS FIGURES

Record annual and Q4 net bookings

FY24 non-IFRS operating income of €401m, in line with target

Cost reduction program on track

Solid growth expected in FY25 with strong pipeline:
Star Wars Outlaws^™ and Assassin’s Creed^® Shadows,
two of the most anticipated releases of the year

Strategic focus sharpened on two verticals:
Open World Adventures and native Games-as-a-Service

Record annual and Q4 net bookings

• Improving activity metrics: 138m unique active users on Console & PC, up 4% YoY and total hours played up 12% YoY, with a higher PRI per hour.
• Rainbow Six^® and Assassin’s Creed^® franchises both achieved very strong net bookings growth and each benefited from solid fan bases of above 30m unique active players.
• Back-catalog outperformance notably driven by the stellar Rainbow Six^® Siege performance.
• Return to a strong sequence of quality releases designed to be long term sellers.
• B2B partnerships on back-catalog that are incremental to the lifetime value of the titles as well as on streaming, including licensing the Activision Blizzard streaming rights on a non-exclusive basis.
  
  

On track to reach the annual €200m cost reduction objective by FY26: Around €150m fixed cost base reduction in FY24.

FY24 in line with targets: Non-IFRS operating income of €401m and €91m non-IFRS Cash Flow from Operations.

Strong 2024-25 line-up: Assassin’s Creed^® Shadows, Rainbow Six^® Mobile, Star Wars Outlaws^™, The Division^® Resurgence and XDefiant. Ubisoft Forward will take place on June 10 and will provide updates on the upcoming releases.

2024-25 targets: Solid net bookings growth, slight increase in non-IFRS operating income and growing non-IFRS Cash Flow from Operations leading to positive Free Cash Flow.

Strategic focus reinforced on two pillars, playing to Ubisoft’s strengths with the objective of driving profitable growth and sustainable recurrence: 1/ Regain leadership in Open World Adventures and 2/ Expand footprint on Games-as-a-Service (GaaS)-native experiences, by leveraging ongoing efforts on proprietary cutting-edge technologies as a differentiating factor.

Paris, May 15, 2024 – Today, Ubisoft released its earnings figures for FY2023-24.

Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said, "Our FY 2024 results confirm that Ubisoft is back on track on its profitable growth trajectory, with record annual and Q4 net bookings, and operating income aligned with our targets.

This year marked a pivotal first step in our turnaround, showcasing solid performance and the first benefits of our transformation toward a more balanced and recurring business model, one supported by multiple revenue streams. The year also demonstrated the strength and value of our key assets including our talented global teams, a diversified portfolio of high-quality franchises that drove our back-catalog revenues to all-time highs, passionate communities of fans across franchises, cutting-edge proprietary technologies and a unique position in the gaming industry that enabled us to sign profitable partnerships. At the same time, we continued to adapt to a fast-changing industry and made further progress on transforming the organization at all levels.”

Frédérick Duguet, Chief Financial Officer, commented, "Once again, this fiscal year brings further evidence that our back-catalog, driven by the quality of our IPs, consistently acts as a major foundation of our business model. Great progress was also made on our cost reduction plan as we reduced our fixed cost base by €150m thanks to tight control on recruitments, targeted restructurings, and a favorable foreign exchange impact. All this led to a Cash Flow from Operations of €91m. While there remains work to be done in the coming years, we are on track to get back to free cash flow generation in FY25 and reach our €200m annual cost reduction objective by FY26.”

Yves Guillemot concluded, "Pursuing a pragmatic and selective organic investment approach, and in line with the strategic pillars announced last year, our strategic focus is on returning to leadership in the Open World Adventure segment and expanding our footprint in GaaS-native experiences. With these core verticals, and leveraging ongoing investments in our technologies to reach and maintain a competitive advantage, we aim to drive growth and recurrence with the objective to gradually expand operating income and generate robust free cash flow.

We are committed to continuing our turnaround in FY25 thanks to a very promising line-up that includes Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Rainbow Six Mobile, Star Wars Outlaws, The Division Resurgence, and XDefiant. Our upcoming Ubisoft Forward event on June 10^th will further showcase our innovative games and our dedication to consistently creating and delivering high-quality, long-lasting experiences for players.”

Strategic focus sharpened on two core verticals: Open World Adventure and native Games-as-a-Service

In FY24, we realized initial returns from our ongoing transformation, advancing on our strategy to expand the global reach of Ubisoft’s biggest brands and enhance our recurring model through long-lasting Live games.

As a result of detailed market analysis as well as a pragmatic and more selective organic investment strategy, we have made the choice to play to our strengths and are sharpening our strategic focus on two verticals, Open World Adventures¹ and GaaS-native² experiences. This focus not only offers profitable growth and recurrence prospects but also allows us to leverage and better cross-fertilize Ubisoft’s established brands as well as ongoing targeted investments in proprietary technologies to reach and sustain a competitive advantage.

The first objective is to return to leadership in the Open World Adventure segment, which are immersive worlds with a rich lore that deeply engage players. The Open World Adventure market represents €25 billion today, and is expected to grow over the coming years. This market is dynamic, frequently benefiting from technological disruptions and is characterized by high barriers to entry. Ubisoft can rely on big franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry^®, The Division^®, Ghost Recon^® and Star Wars to address this market. This will start in FY2024-25 with the launch of Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows and will continue in the future years as we deliver immersive experiences that attract more players into our universes and reach new audiences, notably thanks to multiplayer and mobile.

The second objective is to expand our footprint on GaaS-native experiences. Historically one of the major segments in the video game industry, it currently represents €120 billion, is a growing market and has the largest total addressable market in terms of number of players. In this segment, Ubisoft has notably successfully installed Rainbow Six Siege, which became one of our largest and most profitable games. The objective is to expand our footprint in this dynamic market notably thanks to growing existing experiences as well as the upcoming releases of XDefiant, Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence.

We are fully convinced that our proprietary cutting-edge technologies will provide critical competitive advantages in these two core verticals, driving not only efficiency but also differentiation. Ubisoft has always been a technologically forward-looking company and has significantly revamped its operating model in recent years through a dual approach.
First, we have streamlined, consolidated and mutualized our tech assets to achieve economies of scale. Notably, we have rationalized the branches of Ubisoft Anvil and Snowdrop, our proprietary game engines, converging on just two reference branches shared among our games in production, enabling our teams to focus on breakthrough innovations and facilitating sharing across studios. The impacts will notably be visible this year with the releases of Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
Second, we continued to invest in the potential of new technologies that can open new frontiers for creativity and players’ experience, especially Generative AI. Notably, at GDC 2024, Ubisoft unveiled NEO NPC, our first player-facing Generative AI prototype. It is designed to transform the way players interact with non-playable characters and create more immersive gameplay experiences. And beyond several ongoing internal projects, Ubisoft also partners with leading AI companies on joint initiatives.
Q4/FY Highlights

Back-catalog
In its 9^th year, Rainbow Six Siege strengthened its leadership in the highly competitive first-person shooter Live services landscape with impressive and sustained numbers throughout the year. Overall, net bookings grew more than 50% this year. The game boasts excellent results in terms of acquisition, activity, viewership and monetization this year, notably with session days growing significantly year-on-year, at +38%, and session days per player growing 24%. April 2024 saw an acceleration of its year-on-year session days growth vs. Q4.

The introduction of the marketplace beta generated a positive reaction from the community and bodes well for the future of the game thanks to the potential of much stronger network effects. Additionally, the phenomenal reception of the Six Invitational that broke all previous viewership records, a record battle pass conversion and multiple gameplay and player safety improvements contributed to the games’ stellar performance this year.

Another key pillar of our back-catalog, the Assassin’s Creed franchise continued to outperform in Q4, with engagement benefiting from the recent Assassin’s Creed^® Mirage launch and the inclusion of Assassin’s Creed^® Valhalla in the Game Pass, seeing overall franchise quarterly active users grow double-digit year-on-year. The brand grew net bookings by more than 30% over the year.

The Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six franchises each benefited from solid fan bases of above 30 million unique active players over the year, highlighting the reach of Ubisoft’s core franchises.

New Releases
This year delivered a sustained cadence of quality releases, designed to be long-term sellers. Q4 notably saw the release of Skull and Bones^™. The game displayed strong engagement, achieving the second-best daily playtime for a Ubisoft game, with an average of 4 hours in the first weeks following launch. Solid D-28 retention is driven by its end-game that launched with Season 1. We target to further improve this retention and enlarge the player base with the upcoming launch of Season 2, Chorus of Havoc, that will continue to enrich the end-game with the addition of new bosses, world events and ship upgrades. Season 2 will also bring new PvE & Solo game modes. The quarter also saw the release of Prince of Persia^™: The Lost Crown that was unanimously praised by players and critics thanks to its best-in-class level design and the engaging and deep combat gameplay, a compelling illustration of Ubisoft’s capacity to revive iconic brands. This was confirmed with the positively welcomed announcement of The Rogue Prince of Persia^™, a new fast-paced 2D action-platforming roguelite developed by partnering studio Evil Empire, set to release in Early Access on Steam on May 27.

The Crew^® Motorfest continues to outperform The Crew^® 2 on acquisition, activity, monetization and net bookings metrics on a comparable basis since launch thanks to its quality seasonal, monthly and weekly activities. The franchise quadrupled its net bookings year-on-year, leading to record net bookings. For its part, Assassin’s Creed Mirage won the Audience Award at the 2024 Pegasus Ceremony, and players continued to engage in the game that notably saw the addition of the Permadeath mode in February.

B2B
In an industry marked by strong demand for high-quality content, the uniqueness and attractiveness of Ubisoft’s portfolio of wholly owned IPs was once again highlighted this year by its capacity to sign B2B partnerships that are incremental to the lifetime value of its back-catalog titles while providing quality content and increased activity for its partners. The year was also marked by B2B partnerships on streaming, including licensing the Activision Blizzard streaming rights on a non-exclusive basis.

Cost reduction plan on track, more focused and selective investments

As part of Ubisoft’s efforts to streamline its operations and adapt to evolving market trends, there have been further reorganizations within the Global Publishing teams, both at the APAC region, that is now organized into three engagement hubs, and at the central level. Additionally, in line with the increased selectivity of its investments, Ubisoft has decided to stop development on The Division^® Heartland and has redeployed resources to bigger opportunities such as XDefiant and Rainbow Six.

Thanks to the continued tight control on recruitments, organizational simplification as well as targeted restructurings, the total number of employees stood at 19,011 at the end of March 2024. This represents a decrease of more than 1,700 over 18 months, while retention has continued to improve over the period.

The cost reduction plan is well on track, with the FY 2023-24 fixed cost base³ standing at around €1.6 billion. This represents a year-on-year reduction of around €150 million, including a favorable foreign exchange impact.

FY25 Game Pipeline Highlights

The FY25 line-up includes, on the premium side, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws, two of the industry’s most anticipated games for the year, and on the free-to-play side, Rainbow Six Mobile, The Division Resurgence and XDefiant.

Star Wars Outlaws recently had its comeback with a story trailer, generating excitement and anticipation for its upcoming release on August 30. Developed by Massive, the first-ever open world Star Wars game will invite players to live out a scoundrel fantasy as Kay Vess, and her loyal companion Nix. They’ll navigate the underworld including formidable crime syndicates to pull off one of the greatest heists the galaxy has ever seen, exploring both iconic and new distinct locations.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the next flagship title in the franchise and the future of the open world RPG in Assassin’s Creed will be revealed today through the Official Cinematic World Premiere Trailer. Developed by Ubisoft Quebec the studio behind Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the game will let players embark on a journey through feudal Japan.

XDefiant, a PC and console free-to-play GaaS-native game, will launch its preseason on May 21. Developed by Ubisoft San Francisco, the fast-paced 6v6 first-person shooter arena experience will leverage factions from different Ubisoft worlds, enabling players to enjoy varied playstyles. The game will start with 14 maps, 5 game modes, 5 playable factions and will be enhanced by regular new content updates every quarterly season.

Key organizational changes in the management team to efficiently drive Ubisoft's growth

Cécile Russeil, former Chief Legal Officer, has been appointed to the position of Executive Vice President in charge of Communications, Corporate Affairs, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, Human Resources, and Legal. Her deep understanding of Ubisoft’s organization and the video game industry will drive greater agility, consistency, and influence across Ubisoft’s global operations.

SVP Marie-Sophie de Waubert and SVP Martin Schelling have also been appointed Chief Studios and Portfolio Officer, and Chief Production Officer, respectively. They will pursue the efforts initiated 2 years ago to further strengthening shared standards and methodologies as well as best practices and KPIs in the overall game design and production capabilities.

These evolutions will ensure greater efficiency and predictability, through a streamlined and more efficient production strategy and organizational model.

Cécile Russeil, Marie-Sophie de Waubert and Martin Schelling are all members of Ubisoft’s Executive Committee.

Note
The Group presents indicators which are not prepared strictly in accordance with IFRS as it considers that they are the best reflection of its operating and financial performance. The definitions of the non-IFRS indicators as well as a reconciliation table between the IFRS consolidated income statement and the non-IFRS consolidated income statement are provided in an appendix to this press release.

Income statement and key financial data

⁽¹⁾ Based on the consolidated cash flow statement for comparison with other industry players (not audited by the Statutory Auditors).

Sales and net bookings

IFRS 15 sales for the fourth quarter of 2023-24 came to €858.4 million, up 176.3% (or 178.8% at constant exchange rates⁴) on the €310.7 million generated in fourth-quarter 2022-23. IFRS 15 sales for full-year 2023-24 totaled €2,300.9 million, up 26.8% (or 29.1% at constant exchange rates) versus the 2022-23 figure of €1,814.3 million.

Fourth-quarter 2023-24 net bookings totaled €872.7 million, up 178.7% (or 181.1% at constant exchange rates) on the €313.2 million recorded for fourth-quarter 2022-23. Net bookings for full-year 2023-24 amounted to €2,321.4 million, up 33.5% (or 35.8% at constant exchange rates) on the €1,739.5 million figure for 2022-23.

Main income statement items⁵

Non-IFRS operating income came in at €401.4 million, versus a loss of €(500.2) million in 2022-23.
Non-IFRS attributable net income amounted to €252.0 million, representing non-IFRS diluted earnings per share (EPS) of €1.79, compared with non-IFRS attributable net loss of €(400.0) million and non-IFRS diluted earnings per share of €(3.30) for 2022-23.
IFRS attributable net income totaled €157.8 million, representing IFRS diluted EPS of €1.24, (compared with IFRS attributable net loss of €(494.2) million and IFRS diluted earnings per share of €(4.08) for 2022-23).

Main cash flow statement⁶ items

Non-IFRS cash flows from operating activities represented a net cash outflow of €393.3 million in 2023-24 (versus a net cash outflow of €354.2 million in 2022-23). It reflects a positive €90.8 million in non-IFRS cash flow from operations (versus a negative €227.3 million in 2022-23) and an €484.1 million increase in non-IFRS working capital requirement (compared with a €126.9 million increase in 2022-23).

Main balance sheet items and liquidity

At March 31, 2024, the Group’s equity was €1,877 million and its non-IFRS net debt was €985 million versus non-IFRS net debt of €662 million at end of March 31, 2023. IFRS net debt totaled €1,304 million at March 31, 2024, of which €319 million related to the IFRS16 accounting restatement. At March 31, 2024, Cash and cash equivalents stood at €1,205 million.

Outlook

First-quarter 2024-25

Net bookings for the first quarter of 2024-25 are expected to come in at around €275 million.

Full-year 2024-25

The Company is introducing its financial targets for 2024-25 and expects solid net bookings growth, slight increase in non-IFRS operating income and growing non-IFRS Cash Flow from Operations leading to positive Free Cash Flow.

The FY25 line-up includes, on the premium side, Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws, two of the industry’s most anticipated games for the year, and on the free-to-play side, Rainbow Six Mobile, The Division Resurgence and XDefiant.

Conference call

Ubisoft will hold a conference call today, Wednesday May 15, 2024, at 6:15 p.m. Paris time/12:15 p.m. New York time.
The conference call can be accessed live and via replay by clicking on the following link:

https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/8zdia455/

Contacts

Disclaimer
This press release may contain estimated financial data, information on future projects and transactions and future financial results/performance. Such forward-looking data are provided for information purposes only. They are subject to market risks and uncertainties and may vary significantly compared with the actual results that will be published. The estimated financial data have been approved by the Board of Directors, and have not been audited by the Statutory Auditors. (Additional information is provided in the most recent Ubisoft Registration Document filed on July 20, 2023 with the French Financial Markets Authority (l’Autorité des Marchés Financiers)).

About Ubisoft
Ubisoft is a creator of worlds, committed to enriching players’ lives with original and memorable entertainment experiences. Ubisoft’s global teams create and develop a deep and diverse portfolio of games, featuring brands such as Assassin’s Creed®, Brawlhalla®, For Honor®, Far Cry®, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon®, Just Dance®, Rabbids®, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®, The Crew® and Tom Clancy’s The Division®. Through Ubisoft Connect, players can enjoy an ecosystem of services to enhance their gaming experience, get rewards and connect with friends across platforms. With Ubisoft+, the subscription service, they can access a growing catalog of more than 100 Ubisoft games and DLC. For the 2023–24 fiscal year, Ubisoft generated net bookings of €2.32 billion. To learn more, please visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.

© 2024 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are registered trademarks in the US and/or other countries.

APPENDICES

Definition of non-IFRS financial indicators

Alternative performance Indicators, not presented in the financial statements, are:

Net bookings corresponds to the sales excluding the services component and integrating the unconditional amounts related to license or distribution contracts recognized independently of the performance obligation realization, and restated for the financing component.

Player Recurring Investment (PRI) corresponds to sales of digital items, DLC, season passes, subscriptions and advertising.

Non-IFRS operating income calculated based on net bookings corresponds to operating income less the following items:

• Stock-based compensation expense arising on free share plans, group savings plans and/or stock options.
• Depreciation of acquired intangible assets with indefinite useful lives.
• Non-operating income and expenses resulting from restructuring operations within the Group.
  
  

Non-IFRS operating margin corresponds to non-IFRS operating income expressed as a percentage of net bookings. This ratio is an indicator of the Group’s financial performance.

Non-IFRS net income corresponds to net income less the following items:

• The above-described deductions used to calculate non-IFRS operating income.
• Income and expenses arising on revaluations, carried out after the measurement period, of the potential variable consideration granted in relation to business combinations.
• OCEANE bonds’ interest expense recognized in accordance with IFRS9.
• The tax impacts on these adjustments.

Non-IFRS attributable net income corresponds to non-IFRS net income attributable to owners of the parent.

Non-IFRS diluted EPS corresponds to non-IFRS attributable net income divided by the weighted average number of shares after exercise of the rights attached to dilutive instruments.

The adjusted cash flow statement includes:

• Non-IFRS cash flow from operations which comprises:
  • The costs of internally developed software and external developments (presented under cash flows from investing activities in the IFRS cash flow statement) as these costs are an integral part of the Group's operations.
  • The restatement of impacts (after tax) related to the application of IFRS 15.
  • The restatement of commitments related to leases due to the application of IFRS 16.
  • Current and deferred taxes.
• Non-IFRS change in working capital requirement which includes movements in deferred taxes and restates the impacts (after tax) related to the application of IFRS 15, thus cancelling out the income or expenses presented in non-IFRS cash flow from operations.
• Non-IFRS cash flows from operating activities which includes:
  • the costs of internal and external licenses development (presented under cash flows from investing activities in the IFRS cash flow statement and included in non-IFRS cash flow from operations in the adjusted cash flow statement);
  • the restatement of lease commitments relating to the application of IFRS 16 presented under IFRS in cash flow from financing activities.
• Non-IFRS cash flows from investing activities which excludes the costs of internal and external licenses development that are presented under non-IFRS cash flow from operations.

Free cash flow corresponds to cash flows from non-IFRS operating activities after cash inflows/outflows arising on the disposal/acquisition of other intangible assets and property, plant and equipment.

Free cash flow before working capital requirement corresponds to cash flow from operations after cash inflows/outflows arising on (i) the disposal/acquisition of other intangible assets and property, plant and equipment and (ii) commitments related to leases recognized on the application of IFRS 16.

Cash flow from non-IFRS financing activities, which excludes lease commitments relating to the application of IFRS16 presented in non-IFRS cash flow.

IFRS net cash/(debt) position corresponds to cash and cash equivalents less financial liabilities excluding derivatives.

Non-IFRS net cash/(debt) position corresponds to the net cash/(debt) position as adjusted for commitments related to leases (IFRS 16).

Breakdown of net bookings by geographic region

Breakdown of net bookings by platform

*Ancillaries, etc.

Title release schedule
1^st quarter (April – June 2024)

Extracts from the Consolidated Financial Statements at

March 31, 2024

The audit procedures have been carried out and the audit report is in preparation.

Consolidated income statement (IFRS, extract from the accounts which have undergone an audit by the Statutory Auditors).

Reconciliation of IFRS Net income and non-IFRS Net income

Consolidated balance sheet (IFRS, extract from the accounts which have undergone an audit by Statutory Auditors)

Consolidated cash flow statement (IFRS, extract from the accounts which have undergone an audit by Statutory Auditors)

RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH POSITION

Consolidated cash flow statement for comparison with other industry players (non-audited)

RECONCILIATION OF NET CASH POSITION

¹ Experiences designed to plunge players at the heart of an adventure through an immersive world and captivating lore.
² Experiences designed to captivate players over the long-term through engaging and rewarding gameplay, social interactions and frequent content updates.
³ Includes P&L structure costs + fixed portion of COGS (customer service and supply chain) + cash R&D (excluding performance-based royalties) and excludes all profitability bonuses
⁴ Sales at constant exchange rates are calculated by applying to the data for the period under review the average exchange rates used for the same period of the previous fiscal year.
⁵ See the presentation published on Ubisoft’s website for further information on movements in the income and cash flow statement.
⁶ Based on the consolidated cash flow statement for comparison with other industry players (non-audited)

Attachment

• Ubisoft Reports Full-Year 2023-24 Earnings Figures