The UK division of gaming giant Ubisoft has issued a stark warning about its financial prospects, forecasting a significant sales decline for the current financial year ending 31 March 2026.
Changing Consumer Behaviour Hits Sales
The Guildford-based company revealed that fundamental shifts in how people play games are creating major challenges for new releases. According to their assessment, gamers are now playing fewer titles for longer periods, making it increasingly difficult for new games to capture attention and achieve traditional sales figures.
Ubisoft stated that newer games 'are struggling to stand out and achieve the sales they may once have had', describing the current market as 'more volatile' with less predictable outcomes for individual titles.
Financial Performance and Market Trends
Recent accounts filed with Companies House reveal a complex financial picture. While Ubisoft UK reported an 11 per cent increase in revenue, rising from £29.9 million to £33.3 million for the year ending 31 March 2025, this growth was partly attributed to integrating customer relationship centre activities.
This organisational change caused staff numbers to surge from 44 to 174 employees within a single year. However, beneath the surface revenue increase, the company experienced a worrying 29 per cent decrease in goods sales to £18.9 million.
The pre-tax profit figure saw a dramatic fall from £54.4 million to £1.1 million, though this was primarily due to a £55 million dividend from subsidiary Ubisoft Reflections not being repeated. On an underlying basis, pre-tax profit remained steady at £750,000.
Industry-Wide Challenges
The broader UK gaming market is undergoing significant transformation. Ubisoft reported that the physical sales market declined by approximately 35 per cent in the year ending March 2025, reflecting the accelerating shift toward digital and subscription-based gaming.
Hardware sales also suffered, dropping by roughly 25 per cent, which Ubisoft attributes to 'the maturing console cycle, with updates to existing consoles being offered rather than any major new console launch'.
The traditional model of selling single £50-£60 games as one-off purchases is becoming less dominant. Ubisoft highlighted that multi-game subscription services, long-running games-as-a-service titles, free-to-play games, and cloud streaming platforms are all providing new and attractive ways for consumers to access gaming content.
The company noted that during the last financial year, it launched only three major titles: Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Just Dance 2025. This contrasts sharply with the previous year, which saw releases of six significant games including Assassin's Creed Mirage and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Ubisoft's warning comes amidst broader restructuring within the global organisation, including the closure of its Leamington Spa studio and approximately 100 redundancies across Newcastle and Leamington Spa locations.
