Ubisoft publishes Q1 sales reports, next-gen games to retain $60 price tag

As of late, French video game maker Ubisoft has been in the news for the wrong reasons. Since reports of sexual allegations and misconduct within the firm came to light, the developer and publisher has undergone major changes internally. This includes the voluntary resignation of Serge Hascoët, the ex-CCO, and the dismissal of Yannis Mallat, the former managing director of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios.

Despite the PR nightmare, it seems that the company has a reason to celebrate based on its recent sales earnings reports which were released today. Financially speaking, Ubisoft did exceptionally well in the first quarter of the financial year 2020-2021. The video game company overachieved its target net bookings by €75 million, adding up to a total of €410 million in earnings for Q1.

In the press release, Yves Guillemot, co-founder and interim CEO at Ubisoft since Hascoët's departure, addressed the sexual misconduct accusations and the changes made on the company's part since:

"Since late June 2020, allegations of inappropriate behavior and harassment have been made against certain Group employees. The Group reacted immediately and has been carrying out a rigorous inquiry in order to take all the necessary actions."

Guillemot went on to further detail the actions taken by the company in light of the recent scandals and allegations, in the post.

Speaking in the conference call for the sales earnings, chief financial officer Frédérick Duguet expressed particular excitement for the upcoming free-to-play title Hyper Scape, which is now in open beta. Towards the end of the call, he also confirmed that the next-generation games coming out this Christmas will stick with the current price tag of $60. This, however, may not remain the same going forward in the future.

Aside from the successful reception of other upcoming games such as Far Cry 6, Assassins Creed Valhalla, and Watch Dogs: Legion, there was also some talk of AAA titles that are currently being developed for 2021 and 2022. However, nothing was mentioned about them apart from their existence.