Shares of French game developer Ubisoft fell as low as 18% after it released its full-year earnings report.
Ubisoft, maker of the popular Assassin's Creed game series, reported a 20.5% drop in net bookings for the financial year ended 31 March.
This came despite the release of "Assassin's Creed: Shadows" in March, which failed to boost sales by a notable amount and faced consecutive delays to its release date.
The reason for the drop in net bookings was reportedly “lower than expected partnerships”, which came in at 1.85 billion euros, down 20% year-on-year.
As a result, Ubisoft shares closed down 18.32%, at 9.55 euros, and over the last year the company’s shares have lost almost 60% of their value.
In the same month it concluded its financial report for the year, Ubisoft unveiled plans for a new gaming subsidiary, which would be partially owned by Chinese technology company Tencent, which would run the development and publishing of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and other top game franchises for the developer.
Tencent will receive a 25% stake in its investment of 1.16 billion euros, while Ubisoft will retain majority ownership and earn royalties on sales related to its key franchises.
The deal is expected to close at the end of this year.
