French publisher Ubisoft took a beating on the Euronext Paris stock exchange today.
The company’s share price lost 26 percent of its value and is currently trading at around 8.19 euros ($11.05) per share. That’s down from around 11.10 euros ($14.98) at the end of trading yesterday.
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Ubisoft also revealed that recent releases Rayman Legends (a platformer) and Splinter Cell: Blacklist (a shooter) both failed to meet sales expectations. Both debuted to positive critical receptions, but that apparently wasn’t enough to entice customers to pick up the games at the rate Ubisoft was anticipating.
Based on this news, the publisher revised its sales forecast down $540 million. That is 30 percent short of what it originally predicted for its 2013-2014 fiscal year.
Much of that $540 million isn’t completely lost to Ubisoft. The publisher revealed that it is moving Watch Dogs into spring and The Crew into summer. That means both titles will earn revenue for Ubisoft’s 2014-2015 fiscal year, and the company’s full-year guidance for that period will look even better. If Watch Dogs and The Crew then perform well at retail, it’s possible the publisher’s stock will recover at that time.
We’ve reached out to Ubisoft to ask it about its outlook for 2014-2015 now that it has two more games hitting during that period. We’ll update with any new information.