The potential reasons behind Ubisoft’s expected earnings report last week were the subject of much discussion, especially considering the company’s well-documented decline in recent times. But we now know that the delay was caused by an accounting issue related to the soon-to-be finalized transaction with Tencent.
As revealed in Ubisoft’s H1 2025-26 earnings data, the company was required to restate its FY 2024-25 accounts in respect of revenue for the period due to sales from partnerships. “This position now implemented by the group has resulted in partnerships signed in Q2 FY2025-26 not being recognized in IFRS15 revenue,” the company said. “As a result of the above the Company is not in compliance with its leverage covenant ratio under certain existing financing agreements due on September 30, 2025. However, this is being addressed by the above actions related to the related debt instruments.”
With the report now published, Ubisoft has asked Euronext to resume trading of its shares. And while the accounting problem caused a weeks-long delay, the French company said its deal with Tencent is set to close in the “coming days”, with the impending €1.16 billion ($1.36 billion) investment expected to help the company pay off outstanding debt. Once finalized, the partnership will “enable the acceleration” of Vantage Studios, with the new Tencent owning a 25 percent stake. The new studio will be responsible for Ubisoft’s three biggest IPs: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
Ubisoft reported net bookings of €491 million ($564 million) in the quarter, a 39 percent increase year-over-year. The company said this shadow of assassin’s creedwhich is getting a Switch 2 port next month, has performed better this quarter, likely helped by the arrival of its new Game+ mode over the summer.