We've been waiting what feels like a lifetime for Ubisoft to finally drop its financial report, and now that it has, we've got plenty of details to dig through. It seems the first half of FY25/26 wasn't so bad for the Assassin's Creed publisher, as it boasted a 20% increase YoY for net bookings across the semester. Also, further down we got some details about the Tencent deal, announced earlier this year.
The details have been finalised on that deal, and it is expected to close in the coming days. That means that Ubisoft will be going ahead with the creation of the new Vantage Studios, which will have control over its primary franchises in Assassin's Creed, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, and Far Cry.
This will involve the establishment of new Creative Houses, the first of which is going to operate under three guiding principles, according to the financial documents. These are "Autonomy, Focus, and Player Centricity." New leadership teams are being formed for these major franchises, which will include new Heads of Franchises likely to be announced early next year.
We say early next year because that's when Ubisoft says it'll be unveiling a new operating model. In January 2026, we'll hear more details about the new operating model "built around Creative Houses, independent business units with the objective of driving stronger creative vision, greater focus, efficiency, autonomy and accountability."
Thanks to the Tencent deal, Ubisoft was bolstered with a fair bit of cash, most of which it has used for its balance sheet, by the looks of things. Elsewhere, we see that Ubisoft's cost reductions are going well, even if they have come at the cost of layoffs and job cuts. Only time will tell if this is the moment Ubisoft turns its ship around after a rough couple of years.