Once upon a time, Ubisoft was one of the largest and most influential video game companies in the world.
Founded in 1986 in France, the company managed to build a name for itself through various popular franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Watch Dogs, Rainbow Six, The Division and Prince of Persia.
At its peak, Ubisoft had over 18,000 employees worldwide and was one of the game publishers that often produced AAA games.
However, in recent years, Ubisoft began to face various challenges that affected the company’s performance.
Among the main reasons were too many games being delayed, several projects being canceled despite having incurred high development costs, and several games being launched in conditions that did not meet player expectations.
In addition, many players felt that Ubisoft’s game formula was becoming increasingly repetitive, causing them to start to feel bored.
Several titles such as Skull and Bones, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant did not receive the reception they had hoped for.
The poor sales performance has affected the company's earnings and undermined investor confidence.
As a result, Ubisoft's share price has reportedly fallen more than 80% from its all-time high, wiping billions of euros off its market value.
At the same time, competition in the video game industry has become increasingly fierce. Ubisoft now has to compete with companies like Rockstar Games, FromSoftware, Capcom and Nintendo that are producing high-quality games despite taking longer to develop.
Gamer priorities are also changing, with many more focusing on quality than the frequency of new game releases.
To ease financial pressure, Ubisoft has taken several steps such as closing several studios, reducing staff and postponing new projects.
The company has also focused more on its core franchises such as Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six. Despite the challenges, Ubisoft still has a chance to rise because it owns several very well-known game brands.
However, the company needs to produce truly quality games, avoid rushed launches, listen to feedback from the player community and rebuild investor confidence.
