Business at Ubisoft continues to grow in some areas, as employees protest layoffs and game cancellations. A newly released Ubisoft earning report states that Q3's "overperformance versus expectations was primarily driven by partnerships and the Assassin’s Creed franchise." Net bookings for Q3 stood at €338 million (approximately $401 million), which is 12% higher than the same quarter in last fiscal year.
Most of the quarter's income (€297m) came from Ubisoft's back catalog. In particular, Assassin's Creed as a franchise had 28% more total players than the same time last year, thanks in part to free DLC for Assassin's Creed: Mirage and the Switch 2 release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows. The report also names The Division 2 and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora as games that saw significant growth in Q3--in the case of Avatar, it likely saw an influx of players as hype picked up for the latest Avatar film. Overall, 130 million unique players booted up Ubisoft games during the quarter, which the report claims is evidence of "the appeal and strength of the Group’s portfolio of franchises."
In January, the publisher closed Ubisoft Halifax, fired 70 employees, and canceled multiple in-development projects. Ubisoft also fired a 12-year veteran without stated cause, though the termination was shortly after he criticized the company's "return-to-work" mandate. The earnings report outlined further plans to "reshape [Ubisoft's] HQ into a leaner and focused organization" via "a voluntary departure plan." In response to the layoffs, 1,200 Ubisoft employees, primarily in France, have gone on a three-day strike.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/assass...01-10abi2f