Assassin's Creed creator loses third of market value in a day amid major reorg

Shares of Ubisoft Entertainment SA, the developer behind Assassin’s Creed and Star Wars Outlaws, plunged in Paris on Thursday, January 22, falling nearly 33% to a record low. The stock sold off after the company announced a major restructuring that includes canceling several game projects, closing studios, and booking a EUR1 billion loss in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.

Shares of the video game maker plunged 32.5% to EUR4.48 per share on Thursday. The stock has never traded lower.

In the first minutes of trading, trading in Ubisoft shares exceeded the average daily volume, according to Yahoo Finance data.

Investors sold Ubisoft’s American depositary receipts on Wednesday, the ADRs falling 10.3% in over-the-counter trading in the U.S.

Late on Wednesday, Ubisoft announced a large-scale restructuring that will result in a loss before interest and tax of about EUR1 billion in the 2025-2026 fiscal year, with net bookings expected to total around EUR1.5 billion.

The company said it would record approximately EUR650 million in a one-off write-down. As part of the restructuring, Ubisoft will discontinue six games, including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, and delay the release of seven other titles. It will also close studios in Stockholm and Halifax (Canada).

As a result of these measures, Ubisoft plans to cut fixed costs by at least EUR100 million and by a further EUR200 million by 2028. Ubisoft will reorganize its operations into separate divisions. One such unit began operating last year, and the company plans to establish four additional ones. The management says the new structure will improve transparency and accountability.

Ubisoft has been under pressure for some time. The company has repeatedly delayed the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows after weaker-than-expected demand for Star Wars Outlaws forced it to lower sales and profit forecasts.

A year ago, Bloomberg reported, citing sources, that Ubisoft was seeking external investment for its first division. The company later confirmed that it had secured financing from Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd.

The difficulties, however, continued. In November 2025, Ubisoft unexpectedly postponed the release of its financial results for the first half of the 2025-2026 fiscal year and asked Euronext to suspend trading in its shares until the results were released, which happened a week later.

Ubisoft said auditors had found that some revenue had been recognized improperly, while other revenue should not have been booked in the first half of the year. The findings triggered a breach of a loan agreement. The company resolved the issue by selling a 26.3% stake in its first division to Tencent for EUR1.16 billion.