Ubisoft is not doing well—this is likely the sentiment shared by its executives as they grapple with the fall of a once-incredible gaming giant. But, according to earnings reports, the company could face bankruptcy in 2025 if nothing changes.
This is the company that brought us the fantastical Prince of Persia franchise, the gritty stealth rival to Metal Gear, Splinter Cell, the revolutionary Assassin’s Creed series, and acclaimed titles like Ghost Recon, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (2011), Ubisoft Montreal
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Yet now, it’s but a shadow of its former glory. Ubisoft appears to have overindulged in the ideological fervor of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), alienating its core fanbase in the process. And that’s a costly mistake.
A recent deep dive into Ubisoft’s publicly available financial reports as of October 30th revealed a startling truth. If something doesn’t change quickly, Ubisoft could be looking at imminent bankruptcy in 2025.
The Financial Abyss: Ubisoft’s Mounting Debt and Declining Revenue
The real problem Ubisoft faces lies in its numbers—more specifically, its finances.
Things have gotten so bad that Ubisoft might actually go bankrupt in 2025.
According to publicly available financial reports, Ubisoft not only has an immense debt burden, but its also increased its debt significantly compared to last year (2023). As of its latest financial report, Ubisoft’s non-IFRS net debt stands at €1.1 billion, with an IFRS net debt of €1.4 billion.
That’s a sharp increase from €880.8 million the previous year.
Key art for XDefiant (2024), Ubisoft
This is a serious concern because it indicates that Ubisoft isn’t generating enough revenue to offset its borrowing.
Coupled with declining cash reserves, now at €932 million, the company is in a precarious financial position.
Adding to these woes, Ubisoft’s stock performance has been abysmal. Its stock has seen a significant decline, falling by nearly 80% in value compared to five years ago. Currently trading at €12.30, it’s one of the lowest points in Ubisoft’s history, reflecting waning investor confidence in the company’s ability to recover.
A five year look at the Ubisoft Stock as of December 18, 2024 – Yahoo! Finance
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The struggles extend beyond financial statements. Its latest game, Star Wars Outlaws, has reportedly sold well below expectations. Preorders were rumored to have been abysmal, and Ubisoft has yet to release official sales figures—often a sign that numbers are poor.
Financial analysts estimate that the game has underperformed to such an extent that it has significantly damaged Ubisoft’s liquidity.
A screenshot of Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
In a surprising move, Ubisoft decided to release Outlaws on Steam shortly after launch, rather than keeping it exclusive to their Ubisoft Connect platform—a strategy they didn’t use for their previous blockbuster, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
This decision suggests a desperate attempt to recoup sales and improve cash flow.
Understanding Credit Ratings and Why Ubisoft Is at Risk
To provide some context: within the investment world, companies are assigned credit ratings to measure their financial health and reliability.
These ratings fall into two main categories:
- Investment-Grade Ratings: Indicate strong financial stability and low risk.
- Junk Ratings: Indicate high risk and a greater likelihood of default or bankruptcy.
Credit ratings range from AAA (the highest rating, indicating prime financial health) to CC (imminent bankruptcy).
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
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Anything rated BBB- or higher is considered investment-grade, while anything below this threshold is classified as junk. These ratings provide a quick and standardized way for investors to gauge the risk of investing in a company. They’re often determined by credit agencies like Moody’s, Fitch, or S&P Global.
However, in cases where a formal public rating isn’t available, analysts rely on publicly available data to estimate a company’s standing.
A screenshot from Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Blacklist (2013), Ubisoft
Based on Ubisoft’s financials—its growing debt, poor stock performance, and declining liquidity—it is clear that the company falls into the Junk Rating category. Using available data and analysis, we estimate Ubisoft’s credit rating to be B-, based on a short summary analysis of its debt, financial reports, and overall market performance. This speculative grade reflects substantial financial risk and indicates that Ubisoft is highly vulnerable to adverse conditions in the gaming market.
However, after a deeper dive into its financial report, a more comprehensive analysis reveals an even bleaker picture. This includes not only their poor stock performance, ongoing rumors of a buyout, and a brief yet concerning strike among Ubisoft employees in Italy, but also their unusually high workforce.
Yves Guillemot via Ubisoft North America YouTube
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Based on our calculations, Ubisoft’s 18,666 employees cost the company an estimated €746.6 million annually, a figure far too high for a company struggling with mounting debt and declining revenue. This makes its workforce size unsustainable under current financial conditions.
Adding to this, the cancellation of its multiplayer game XDefiant and the costly development of Skull & Bones have significantly impacted its bottom line. Skull & Bones alone has reportedly cost between $650 and $850 million over a decade of development—an investment the company will almost certainly never recover due to the game’s poor performance.
These failures highlight major inefficiencies in Ubisoft’s management of resources and production cycles.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
Additionally, there are rumors that Ubisoft has been forced to hire external contractors to assist in game development because its internal workforce is reportedly overstaffed with inexperienced employees. Many of these employees have never worked on a game before, which could explain the poorly executed gameplay seen in recent releases. This imbalance has contributed to rising production costs and increasingly stretched budgets.
The financial strain is further compounded by the unconfirmed but widely reported poor sales of Star Wars: Outlaws.
While Ubisoft has not disclosed official sales figures, analysts suggest that pre-orders were dismal and that the game has fallen far short of expectations.
As a result of these mounting issues, Ubisoft’s estimated credit rating has dropped from B- to CCC.
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Director’s Cut Edition (2008), Ubisoft Montreal
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To put this in perspective: A CCC rating indicates that bankruptcy is imminent unless drastic and positive changes occur.
This rating is just two steps above CC, which signifies an almost certain default.
Unfortunately, the outlook for Ubisoft does not inspire confidence. Even Assassin’s Creed Shadows, one of its flagship franchise titles, has faced significant backlash from fans ever since its announcement.
A screenshot from Watch Dogs: Legion (2020), Ubisoft Toronto
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Despite Ubisoft delaying the game’s release to make “improvements,” it is unlikely that Shadows will generate the revenue needed to pull the company out of its mounting debt.
Instead, it seems more likely to become the killing blow that sinks Ubisoft into bankruptcy.
Ubisoft’s Endgame: Bankruptcy or Salvation?
It is clear that Ubisoft is in a dire situation that could lead to bankruptcy.
Once an acclaimed and beloved gaming company, it has now been reduced to a debt-heavy, ideology-driven corporate shadow of its former self. Some may argue that a Tencent buyout, as the rumors suggest, could be Ubisoft’s saving grace.
However, the reality is that Tencent would likely be smarter to let Ubisoft declare bankruptcy rather than take on its massive debt. Instead, Tencent could acquire Ubisoft’s valuable IPs in the inevitable auction that would follow bankruptcy.
After all, Tencent is interested in Ubisoft’s IPs, not its employees or corporate culture.
Screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (2022), Ubisoft Montreal
If such a fate were to come to pass, it would be a sad and pathetic end for Ubisoft—a company that once stood at the pinnacle of the gaming industry collapsing into bankruptcy. And yet, all signs point to 2025 as the year Ubisoft might take its final breath, collapsing into shadows in what seems to be its last, desperate adventure to survive.
Do you think Ubisoft can survive 2025 without falling into bankruptcy? Is there anything the company can do to turn its dire situation around? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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I’ve made it very clear on BIC that I’m in the “You Be Soft is Doomed” camp and I maintain that stance. If AC Shadows fails as badly as Outlaws did, it’s game over (pun intended). If it does just moderately well, that’s only going to stall the inevitable. It would take the game breaking records in terms of sales to save the company and that just isn’t likely.
To do that, it would need to be perfectly polished and optimized at launch and not need any major patches. It would need to overcome the myriad of very public controversies that haunt it. Perhaps the biggest hurdle, it would have to outperform every other video game being launched the same day it is.
You Be Soft’s track record should inspire absolute dread in investors. If normies who aren’t paying attention still buy it, I hope they get exactly what they deserve for supporting this company.
So glad “You Be Soft” is catching on.
Flacid be way better.
To no one surprise… I think only Kotaku losers and the rest of Game urinalist didnt see this coming.
I’m certain they did see it coming. They’re just trying to convince others everything’s fine because they know they’ll go under once their backers do. That’s the greatest weakness of paid shills.
I dont know pal. They are actually brainwashed, its trully a mind virus, so they actually believe they are the good ones.
It’s so bad that even Rocksmith+ forces you to play songs using a Gibson Explorer-of-your-trans-identity as a guitar.
Bankruptcy is true. Nothing woke is permitted.
Don’t let the door hit ‘ya, where the good lord split ‘ya.
Such fantastic news, I’d love to see them go bankrupt and have to sell off the IPs. I used to be a huge Ubisoft fan back in the early days of Assassin’s Creed – they were making such great games back then.
But that was before they decided to go full throttle into modern feminism, alphabet degeneracy and the like and it’s only gotten worse since they went that route back around 2015 / 2016 – nowadays they’ve pushed out the good developers and replaced them with liberal women and alphabets to work on masculine male franchises like Assassin’s Creed and we see how that’s working out…
Hope Ubi is gone soon and I hope companies like CD Projekt Red follow suit in the coming years.
ME5 will be BioWare’s last chance, but that game won’t be out for several years, so they unfortunately get to hang on just a little bit longer. They absolutely don’t deserve it, but I can see them dangling the whole “We’re going to change, we swear!*” thing in front of investors. Ubisoft, on the other hand, is DONE no matter what happens. They’re the only game company I can realistically see going under in 2025, and the timing couldn’t be better. They already have one foot in the grave, and I think AC: Shadows and its doomed launch will be the final push. Even if 2025 only claims Ubisoft, it would be the kick in the ass that the Western AAA gaming industry needs to get back on track.
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