Uh oh: Ubisoft postpones its quarterly financial report at the last minute and halts stock trading

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We don't know what's going on, but something is definitely happening.

A man walks past the logo at main entrance of video production company Ubisoft where a 3-day strike is taking place in Montpellier, southern France on October 15, 2024. No more playing at Ubisoft: employees are mobilizing for a three-day strike, the second this year, as the French video game giant goes through a difficult time with slumping sales and the postponement of a major game, against a backdrop of rumors of a takeover of the company. (Photo by Pascal GUYOT / AFP) (Photo by PASCAL GUYOT/AFP via Getty Images)
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Well, this is a strange one. Just minutes before it was set to deliver its financial results for the first half of its 2025-26 fiscal year, Ubisoft mashed the brakes on the whole thing, postponing the release of its results to an unspecified future date. The company also requested that European exchange Euronext halt trading of the company's shares and bonds from November 14 until the publication of its results.

No reason for the postponement or trading halt was provided, but these things are rarely the result of good news. They often arise from events like unexpected major news announcements or regulatory problems that can have the potential to trigger panic selling.

(Image credit: Ubisoft)

There's no sign that's the case here, but Ubisoft is in a unique and precarious situation right now. The company's share price is in the toilet, and it recently entered into a deal with Tencent to establish a new "creative house" called Vantage Studios that will assume control of the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six properties. Leading up to that, though, was something of a low-key power struggle: Tencent wanted to assert more control over Ubisoft, but the founding Guillemot family was reluctant to let go of the wheel.

The deal reached in March left the existing Ubisoft power structure in place—Charlie Guillemot, son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, is co-chief of the new venture, make of that what you will—but as we noted when Vantage Studios was formally christened, it's a name and not much more at this point, and there's still plenty of room for things to go wrong.

It seems clear that, at the very least, things aren't going exactly right, but beyond that it's pure speculation. Industry analyst Daniel Ahmad, who specializes in the videogame markets in Asia and MENA, said on Bluesky that the postponement "could indicate a major announcement related to the company."

(Image credit: Daniel Ahmad (Bluesky))

Ahmad added that the results pause "could imply an acquisition of sorts"—someone making a surprise move on the Ubisoft rubble, possibly—but it could just as easily be an "accounting/financial issue." Either way, he recommended that everyone "freak the fuck out for the next few days and speculate as much as possible until they announce something," which I suspect may not be entirely serious advice.

I've reached out to Ubisoft for comment on the results delay—given the strict market regulations that are no doubt intertwined in all of this, I don't imagine I'll hear anything back, but I'll update if I do.

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Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

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