• UBISOFT REPORTS THIRD-QUARTER 2022-23 SALES

    ソース: Nasdaq GlobeNewswire / 16 2 2023 11:40:00   America/New_York

    UBISOFT REPORTS THIRD-QUARTER 2022-23 SALES

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     In €m
    9 months
    2022-23

         		Reported change vs.
    2021-22

         		% of total net bookings
     9 months
    2022-23    		9 months
    2021-22
    IFRS 15 sales1,503.7+6.1%--
    Net bookings1,426.3-2.6%--
    Digital net bookings1,209.9+11.2%84.8%74.3%
    PRI net bookings841.7+57.1%59.0%36.6%
    Back-catalog net bookings754.8-19.4%52.9%64.0%
    • Third fiscal quarter: Net bookings of €726.9 million, in line with the revised target
      • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege®: delivered more than 30% DARPU year-on-year progression during the quarter and double-digit PRI growth over the first nine months
    • Assassin’s Creed® brand: active players up 30% over the first nine months, reaching new engagement records

    2022-23 and 2023-24 targets confirmed

    2023-24 line-up: new releases across big brands with Assassin's Creed® Mirage, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora™, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Mobile, Tom Clancy’s The Division® Resurgence and another large game as well as across long-lasting Live games, notably with Skull and Bones™ and The Crew® Motorfest

    Paris, February 16, 2023 – Today, Ubisoft released its sales figures for the third quarter of fiscal 2022-23, i.e. the three months ended December 31, 2022.

    Yves Guillemot, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, said “We are committed to boosting our efficiency and execution through a more agile organization adapted to new market conditions, with a strong focus on initiatives to enhance predictability across our productions and through our cost-reduction efforts.

    As we are focused on building on our strengths, we are prioritizing our efforts on big brands and long-lasting Live games. While the macro environment impacted the video game market and our Q3 results, our established franchises and Live games have performed solidly. In an intensely competitive environment for shooter games, Rainbow Six Siege has performed remarkably well. This momentum, seven years after the game’s release, is promising as we look to launch Rainbow Six Mobile next fiscal year. The Assassin’s Creed franchise reached new player engagement records over the past quarter, and we are excited to bring Assassin’s Creed Mirage to players in 2023-24. Similarly, we are looking to bring The Division to a larger, global audience, with the release on mobile of The Division Resurgence, also next fiscal year.”

    Frédérick Duguet, Chief Financial Officer, said “Fueling our expectations for strong revenue growth, next fiscal year will see the release of a meaningful line-up, including new titles within the Assassin’s Creed, Avatar, Rainbow Six and The Division universes. In the coming months, players will have the opportunity to test and discover several of our upcoming long-lasting Live Games, including The Crew Motorfest, Skull and Bones, as well as, starting today, our first cross-platform technical test for XDefiant.”

    Q3 Game Highlights

    In a very competitive backdrop, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege posted a very strong performance in December and January, following the release of Operation Solar Raid, the last season of Year 7. It resonated very well with the community, reflecting the excellent work from our teams at Ubisoft Montreal and at the associate studios, building on the game’s positive momentum since Q1 2022-23 which has led the games’ PRI to grow double-digit on a 9-month basis. As a result, December posted another record month for DARPU, which grew more than 30% year-on-year during the quarter, and engagement is back to double-digit year-on-year growth since the beginning of calendar year 2023. At the end of the ongoing esports Six Invitational event, the team will unveil the new season of Rainbow Six Siege as well as an amazing year of content. Leveraging this current success and strong engagement, we will release Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile next fiscal year as we look to bring the brand to a significantly wider audience.

    Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, led by Ubisoft Paris and Ubisoft Milan, was awarded the best Simulation/Strategy game at the Game Awards 2022. Thanks to positive player reception, upcoming high-quality post-launch content and word of mouth, we expect the game to be a long-term seller.

    Game Pipeline Highlights

    The reveal of The Crew Motorfest, developed by the seasoned car racing and Live Services team at Ubisoft Ivory Tower, was very well received by players and critics alike. Subsequently, the registrations to the Insider Program, that enables players to test the game and submit feedback, generated very strong demand. To date, feedback has been very positive on the gameplay and the core experience. As players race through the island of O’ahu, The Crew Motorfest will leverage the franchise strong and profitable success with a community of more than 40 million unique players as well as ongoing solid player engagement in The Crew® 2, more than four years after its release.

    The Tom Clancy’s The Division® franchise is getting ready for a big year. With its 4th anniversary on the horizon, Tom Clancy’s The Division® 2 will keep improving the player experience and receive new updates, including a full year of fresh new seasonal content to keep new and veteran players engaged. Next fiscal year we will also be launching Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence, the first high-end AAA mobile looter shooter experience for Android and iOS devices. As we look to bring The Division to a larger, global audience, we are also working on Tom Clancy’s The Division® Heartland, a PvEvP-focused Free-to-Play action survival shooter for console and PC.

    XDefiant, from our Ubisoft San-Francisco studio, is Ubisoft’s upcoming Free-to-Play fast paced arena shooter for consoles and PC. In October 2022 we concluded our weekly test sessions with players and received positive feedback thus far. Starting today, through Sunday, we are conducting our first cross platform technical test with tens of thousands of players.

    Organization Highlights

    Boosting Predictability Across our Brands

    Over the past five years, through three fan favorite, highly successful and profitable titles (Assassin’s Creed® Origins, Assassin’s Creed® Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed® Valhalla), Ubisoft teams in Montreal and Quebec City as well as the associate teams from our network of worldwide studios, have reliably delivered very high-quality innovative experiences. This reflects maturity in terms of production tools, best practices and processes that we have built over the past 15 years on this beloved brand. Over the past 18 months, we have been implementing this best-in-class production framework to our other brands’ production pipelines to drive stronger predictability in quality, innovation and timely execution. We believe this will have a meaningful impact on production across our brands in the future.

    Reinforcing our Commitment to Social Experience

    The Group appointed Bernd Diemer as VP of Editorial - Social Experience within the Global Creative Office. With more than two decades of experience in the video game industry, including leading the creative direction of Crysis, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront, he will be responsible for driving Ubisoft's efforts to enhance in-game social interactions for players.

    A Continued Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion
    As part of Ubisoft’s ongoing efforts to foster inclusion both in its workplace and among its communities, the company has embarked on a three-year plan to advance inclusion for LGBTQIA+ team members worldwide, which kicked off with the signature of the Autre Cercle Charter. The first video game company to sign this Charter, Ubisoft commits to ensuring the inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in the workplace, to supporting equal treatment and rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and to combatting discrimination. 

    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 are appended to this press release.

    Sales and net bookings

    In € millions

         		Q3 9 months
    2022-232021-222022-232021-22
    IFRS 15 sales772.5665.91,503.71,417.2
    Deferred revenues related to IFRS 1545.680.277.347.1
    Net bookings726.9746.11,426.31,464.3
    Digital net bookings568.4530.21,209.91,087.6
    PRI net bookings419.3187.1841.7535.7
    Back-catalog net bookings 249.4340.8754.8937.0

    IFRS 15 sales for the third quarter of 2022-23 came to €772.5 million, up 16.0% (12.8% at constant exchange rates1).
    For the first nine months of 2022-23, IFRS 15 sales amounted to €1,503.7 million, up 6.1% (2.3% at constant exchange rates).

    Net bookings for third-quarter 2022-23 totaled €726.9 million, in line with the Group’s revised target of around 725.0 million and representing a decrease of 2.6% (-5.4% at constant exchange rates).
    For the first nine months of 2022-23, net bookings stood at €1,426.3 million, down 2.6%
    (-6.2% at constant exchange rates).

    Outlook

    Full-year 2022-23

    The company confirms its financial targets of full year net bookings down more than 10% year-on-year and full year non-IFRS operating income of approximately -€500m.

    Full-year 2023-24

    The Company confirms it expects a strong topline growth and a non-IFRS operating income target of approximately €400 million.

    Conference call

    Ubisoft will hold a conference call today, Thursday February 16, 2023, at 6:15 p.m. Paris time/5:15 p.m. London 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/3qsf57od

    Contacts

    Investor Relations
    Jean-Benoît Roquette
    SVP Investor Relations
    + 33 1 48 18 52 39
    jean-benoit.roquette@ubisoft.com
    Press Relations
    Fabien Darrigues
    Director of Global Communications
    fabien.darrigues@ubisoft.com

    Alexandre Enjalbert
    Senior Investor Relations Manager
    + 33 1 48 18 50 78
    alexandre.enjalbert@ubisoft.com

    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 June 14, 2022 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 2021–22 fiscal year, Ubisoft generated net bookings of €2,129 million. To learn more, please visit: www.ubisoftgroup.com.

    © 2023 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

    Net bookings corresponds to sales restated for the services component and including unconditional amounts related to
    license or distribution agreements recognized independently of the achievement of performance obligations.

    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.

    Breakdown of net bookings by geographic region

     Q3
    2022-23

         		Q3
    2021-22

         		9 months
    2022-23

         		9 months
    2021-22

     
    Europe31%39%30%35%
    Northern America53%48%52%49%
    Rest of the world16%13%18%16%
    TOTAL100%100%100%100%

    Breakdown of net bookings by platform

     Q3
    2022-23

         		Q3
    2021-22

         		9 months
    2022-23

         		9 months
    2021-22

     
    CONSOLES36%59%39%60%
    PC11%29%16%25%
    MOBILE43%7%35%9%
    Others*

         		10%5%10%6%
    TOTAL100%100%100%100%

    *Ancillaries, etc.

    Title release schedule
    4th quarter (January – March 2023)

                                                                                                            

    PACKAGED & DIGITAL

         		   
    ANNO 1800 CONSOLES 

    PLAYSTATION®5, XBOX SERIES X/S

         		 
          
    ODDBALLERS   
    PC, PLAYSTATION®4, XBOX ONE
    NINTENDO SWITCH™

         		 
           

                                                                                     

    DIGITAL ONLY
                 		  
     

    FOR HONOR®: Year 7 – Season 1

         		 

    PC, PLAYSTATION®4, XBOX ONE

     
    MARIO + RABBIDS™: SPARKS OF HOPE DLC1 The Tower of Doooom 

    NINTENDO SWITCH™

     
    RIDERS REPUBLIC™: Season 6 – Cutting Edge 

    AMAZON LUNA, PC,
    PLAYSTATION®4, PLAYSTATION®5,
    XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES X/S

     
    TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX® SIEGE: Year 8 – Season 1 

    AMAZON LUNA, PC,
    PLAYSTATION®4, PLAYSTATION®5,
    XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES X/S

     

     
    TOM CLANCY’S THE DIVISION® 2: Season 11 

    AMAZON LUNA, PC,
    PLAYSTATION®4, XBOX ONE

     
    THE CREW ® 2: Season 7 – Episode 2 / Season 8 – Episode 1 

    AMAZON LUNA, PC,
    PLAYSTATION®4, PLAYSTATION®5,
    XBOX ONE, XBOX SERIES X/S

     
     

    THE SETTLERS®: NEW ALLIES

     
    AMAZON LUNA, PC, PLAYSTATION®4, XBOX ONE
    NINTENDO SWITCH™

     
    VALIANT HEARTS: COMING HOME 

    NETFLIX GAMES

     


    1 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 year.

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