- It has been a rough year for Ubisoft (OTC Pink:UBSFY), which has seen its stock drop past decade lows after a string of missteps
- The French gaming studio’s stock opened more than 10 per cent lower on Thursday as investors and fans were hit with news that the team would be skipping this year’s Tokyo Game Show
- The company’s share value now sits at a low it has not seen since 2013 as investors clamour for the stock to go private
- Ubisoft stock (OTC Pink:UBSFY) opened trading at US$10.73
It has been a rough year for Ubisoft (OTC Pink:UBSFY), which has seen its stock drop past decade lows after a string of missteps.
The French gaming studio’s stock opened more than 10 per cent lower on Thursday as investors and fans were hit with news that the team would be skipping this year’s Tokyo Game Show, on now, featuring some of the top games coming this holiday season.
Fans were eager to get more insight on the latest instalment of the studio’s “Assasin’s Creed” series with “Assassin’s Creed: Shadows,” which has been delayed to February 2025. The reason? The studio admitted that they wanted to “avoid the mistakes” of their latest release, “Star Wars: Outlaws,” which came out this past summer to mild reaction from fans and has not met sales expectations. However, there has also been backlash over the depiction of the feudal-era Japan setting for “Shadows,” with many pointing out inaccuracies that could have been avoided with more research and consultation.
Pulling out of Tokyo Game Show is seen as a troubling sign, as “Assassins Creed: Shadows” represents a marquee release from a top brand in the studio’s lineup, but delaying it to next year just leaves the poorly received “Star Wars: Outlaws” as its top game for the holiday season (the game reached only a 5.4 Metacritic rating). Its “Skull and Bones” action adventure game from earlier this year also failed to capture audience enthusiasm.
The company’s share value has continued to tumble in recent years, now sitting at a low it has not seen since 2013. A minority investor has even gone as far as to call on the company to go private to help mitigate this hemorrhaging of value. In a letter that was exclusively shared with Reuters, an activist investor claimed to have gathered support from 10 per cent of its shareholders to go private.
(Ubisoft stock chart – Sept 2014 to Sept 2024.)
Ubisoft Entertainment Inc. develops, publishes and distributes video games for consoles, PCs, smartphones and tablets in physical and digital formats. It owns several popular brands and a diversified portfolio of franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, The Crew, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.
Ubisoft stock (OTC Pink:UBSFY) has lost more than 60 per cent this year in France, down more than 55 per cent since the year began on the OTC, where it opened trading at US$10.73.
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(Top image via Ubisoft Entertainment.)