Ubisoft reports €290 million in Q1 net bookings, exceeding targets thanks to XDefiant launch and back catalog

Ubisoft has published its financial report for the first quarter ended June 30. The company’s outperformed expectations thanks to its strong back catalog and the launch of XDefiant.

XDefiant

Financial highlights

• According to its new earnings release, Ubisoft reached €323.5 million in revenue in Q1, up 12% year-over-year.
• Net bookings grew 8.3% year-over-year to €290 million, exceeding the target of €275 million. North America and Europe were the main regions, accounting for 53% and 32% of the total, respectively.
• Consoles remained the main platform by revenue, accounting for 50% of first-quarter net bookings. This segment is followed by PC (27%) and mobile (10%).
• Digital net bookings reached €257.2 million, up 6.6% compared to the same period last year, while back catalog sales grew 1.5% to €249.5 million (86% of the total).
• “As we progress through FY25, all our efforts are focused on successfully launching our promising new releases and positioning them as long-lasting value drivers for Ubisoft while continuing the transformation of our organization,” CEO Yves Guillemot said in a statement.

Games metrics and release schedule

• XDefiant surpassed 10 million players in two weeks, exceeding Ubisoft’s expectations. The company also noted that the game has “strong average revenue per session day.”
• Guillemot called XDefiant one of the main revenue drivers for the publisher in Q1, adding that “we continue to grow the audience at a steady pace and plan a quarterly roadmap of content that will allow us to firmly establish the game over time.”
• Session days in Rainbow Six Siege increased by 34% year-over-year, with Season 9 becoming the highest-grossing season in the game’s history.
• The Assassin’s Creed franchise “overperformed, benefiting from the Assassin’s Creed Shadows reveal that drove sales throughout the catalog.”
• The Crew Motorfest showed strong retention and monetization in the first quarter, outperfoming The Crew 2 since launch.
• Skull and Bones continues to “perform well” in terms of engagement and ARPU (average revenue per user).
• Mobile games, Rainbow Six Mobile and The Division Resurgence, won’t launch in the current fiscal year (ending March 31, 2025). Ubisoft decided to give the teams the “necessary time to ensure that these experiences deliver on expectations with optimized KPIs in the context of a demanding yet very large market.”