Ubisoft
has
released
its
latest
financial
report,
packed
with
all
sorts
of
numbers
and
baffling
PR
speech
designed
to
placate
shareholders.
Amidst
claims
of
record
profits,
the
company
outlined
it’s
plan
going
forward:
more
open
world
titles
and
mores
game-as-a-service.

“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
Adventures
and
GaaS-native
experiences.”
reads
the
financial
report.

As
you
can
see
from
the
image
below,
taken
directly
from
their
financial
report,
Ubisoft
lists
Assassin’s
Creed,
Ghost
Recon,
Far
Cry,
The
Division
and
the
upcoming
Star
Wars:
Outlaws
in
its
open
world
adventure
bracket.
Watch
Dogs
was
absent,
presumably
confirming
rumours
that
the
series
is
all
but
dead.

The
games-as-a-service
bracket
lists
Rainbow
Six:
Siege,
X-Defiant,
Rainbow
Six
Mobile
and
The
Division:
Resurgence.

“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.”

“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.”
said
Ubisoft
in
regards
to
chasing
the
live-service
market.

It’s
an
interesting
choice
because
while
the
live-service
model
does
indeed
contain
huge
potential,
it’s
also
one
of
the
riskiest
ventures
in
gaming.
We’ve
already
seen
countless
live-service
games
crash
and
burn
for
a
variety
of
reasons,
from
free-to-play
to
full-priced
titles
with
live-service
elements
like
Ubisoft’s
own

mediocre
Skull
and
Bones.
One
of
the
biggest
issues
is
that
live-service
titles
are
typically
designed
to
keep
players
coming
back,
which
also
means
they
have
to
fight
for
a
player’s
finite
time.
In
other
words,
most
people
tend
to
focus
on
just
one
or
two
live-service
games,
and
it
takes
a
lot
to
make
them
move
to
another
one.

So,
what
is
Ubisoft’s
plan?
Well,
according
to
them
they
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.”

The
financial
report
goes
on
to
discuss
how
they
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
report
notes
that
we
will
see
the
impact
of
these
changes
this
year
in
Star
Wars:
Outlaws
and
the

recently
announced
Assassin’s
Creed:
Shadows.

Finally,
the
report
details
how
Ubisoft
plans
on
investing
more
heavily
into
AI
tools
to
aid
game
development:
“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.”