Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws Underperforms, Impacting Share Price
Ubisoft's highly anticipated Star Wars Outlaws has reportedly fallen short of projected sales, negatively affecting the company's stock performance. The game, intended as a financial turnaround point for Ubisoft, has experienced sluggish sales despite positive critical reception.
Ubisoft's Financial Hopes Hinged on Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft had positioned both Star Wars Outlaws and the upcoming Assassin's Creed Shadows (AC Shadows) as key drivers for future growth in its Q1 2024-25 sales report. While the company reported a 15% increase in console and PC session days, largely due to Games-as-a-Service, and a 7% year-on-year increase in monthly active users (MAUs) to 38 million, the underperformance of Star Wars Outlaws overshadowed these positive metrics.
Sales Projections Significantly Lowered
J.P. Morgan analyst Daniel Kerven revised his sales forecast for Star Wars Outlaws downward from 7.5 million units to 5.5 million units by March 2025, citing the game's failure to meet initial expectations. This "sluggish" performance, as described by Reuters, contributed to a significant drop in Ubisoft's share price.
Stock Price Plummets
On September 3rd, Ubisoft's share price experienced a consecutive two-day decline, falling 5.1% on Monday and an additional 2.4% by Tuesday morning. This marked the lowest point for the company's stock since 2015, adding to a year-to-date decline exceeding 30%.
Disparity Between Critical and User Reception
While critics generally praised Star Wars Outlaws, player reception has been notably less enthusiastic. The game currently holds a user score of only 4.5 out of 10 on Metacritic, contrasting sharply with Game8's 90/100 rating. For a more detailed perspective on Star Wars Outlaws, please refer to our full review [link to review].
