Ubisoft to restructure as “Creative Houses” as Q1 25-26 financials come in “lower-than-expected”

Ubisoft has released its first-quarter financial results for the 2025-26 fiscal year, reporting “below expectations” earnings, a “lower-than-expected” performance for Rainbow Six Siege, an “unfavorable foreign exchange” impact, and “a partnership that is now expected to materialize in Q2.” Its back-catalog net bookings, however, were up 4% on the same period last year.

“The first quarter delivered mixed results,” said Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO. “On the positive side, Assassin’s Creed Shadows delivered on its expectations, with now more than five million unique players since its launch, and Rainbow Six Siege X received highly positive player feedback thanks to its renewed gameplay and enhanced features that drove significant player engagement growth.

“However, player spending in Rainbow Six Siege faced temporary but significant disruptions due to technical pricing issues, which have now been identified and addressed. Despite this one-off setback, the growth potential of the game is strong with solid traction on activity and in-game spending.”

Here’s what you need to know:

The numbers:

For the first quarter of 2025-26 financial year ending June 30, 2025

• Revenue: €310.8 million ($365m, down 3.9% year-on-year)
• Net bookings: €281.6 million ($331m, down 2.9%)
• Digital net bookings: €250.2 million ($294m, down 2.7%)
• Back-catalogue net bookings: €260.4 million ($306m, up 4.4%)

In regards to progress on its group transformation, Ubisoft said it will reorganize into “Creative Houses.” These business units will “enhance quality, focus, autonomy and accountability while fostering closer connections with players,” the first of which is the new subsidiary announced in March with a recently appointed dedicated leadership.

Ubisoft added the transaction with Tencent is “progressing well” and is expected to be approved by the end of the calendar year.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows “performed in line with expectations and recently crossed the five million player mark,” while Rainbow Six Seige X — the tenth season of the shooter launched on June 10 complete with “major upgrades to core systems” — was subjected to a “pricing exploit” which Ubisoft said was caused by players purchasing “prepaid currency cards that temporarily inflated virtual currency wallets.” That said, sessions days are up roughly 25% YoY, and June delivered the “third-strongest MAU performance in the game’s history, trailing only the two peak months during the Covid period in Spring 2020.”

The Division 2 similarly had a “strong start to the fiscal year” with the launch of Year 7, the Battle for Brooklyn DLC. The publisher did not reveal further sales information for Star Wars Outlaws, only reaffirming its Switch 2 launch on September 4 and stating its second DLC, A Pirate’s Fortune, released in May.

“We also continued to make meaningful progress on Ubisoft’s transformation by outlining a new operating model built around business units, called Creative Houses,” Guillemot said. “These units will reflect our diverse types of gaming experiences and will allow for enhanced quality, focus, autonomy and accountability. Over time, each of these Creative Houses will boost creative vision and business performance.

“The new Subsidiary announced earlier this year and overseeing our flagship brands — Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six — is the first of these Creative Houses. The recent announcement of its leadership team marks an important milestone as we move toward a more agile and focused organization while ensuring necessary long-term stability and creative vision.”