Ubisoft’s stock has continued to drop amid growing concerns from shareholders about the company’s performance following the release of Star Wars Outlaws.
A self-proclaimed “significant minority investor,” otherwise known as a shareholder has called for Ubisoft to go private and has threatened to leverage French minority shareholder law to gather enough support for a proxy fight to initiate a sale.
This decline comes as Ubisoft continues to push ESG and DEI initiatives, promoting diversity and inclusivity across its products, which some argue have contributed to the company’s financial struggles.
A week ago, Ubisoft shares hit a 10-year low following the release of Star Wars Outlaws, an open-world game that has faced genuine criticism for being uninspired and lacking depth. The game, featuring a progressive female protagonist, has drawn negative reactions from players.
Analysts quickly revised their sales estimates downward by millions. Priced at $70, the title launched on both Sony and Microsoft consoles, but its PC release was exclusive to the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft’s own platform, a move likely aimed at avoiding Valve’s 30% sales fee. This decision highlights Ubisoft’s urgent need to maximize revenue from a game that has seen significant marketing investment.
When we last covered Ubisoft, they were trading at 15.54 EURO, since then their stock prices have tanked an additional 12% as they’re now trading at 13.67 EURO.
In a publicly released letter, AJ Investments argues that Ubisoft is an undervalued company, claiming it should be worth €40-€45 per share. While this assertion is delusional, given the broader inflation in the stock market, such a valuation wouldn’t be entirely out of the question for a gaming company that actually produces a profit.
The more likely scenario is that AJ Investments bought Ubisoft shares at an inflated price and is now lamenting their poor investment as the company spirals toward an early grave. This downfall can be attributed to a combination of poor game design and the imposition of ideologically driven initiatives, which have alienated much of the player base.
Ubisoft has been struggling financially for several years, a decline that coincides with the company’s increasing focus on diversity and inclusivity initiatives, as well as ESG agendas.
These policies have been evident in games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which featured homosexual Vikings, and more recent titles that include “anti-racist” disclaimers and emphasize androgynous female characters and a fixation for “marginalized” races.
A notable example is the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, set in feudal Japan, which controversially includes a fictionalized portrayal of Yasuke, the so-called “first Black samurai,” despite zero historical evidence to support such claims.
For the first time in Assassin’s Creed history, Ubisoft is introducing a playable historical figure in a highly requested Asian setting. However, many fans are rightfully outraged by the company’s decision to cast a Black samurai as the protagonist, which is viewed as obvious pandering to diversity mandates pushed by entities like BlackRock and collaborative hedge funds.
This move, an attempt to rewrite history, has sparked widespread criticism and likely led to consumers boycotting Star Wars Outlaws due to Ubisoft’s anti-Japanese racial prejudice.
AJ Investments has expressed concerns about Ubisoft’s future and its current management, a sentiment that many frustrated gamers would likely agree with.
Ubisoft’s Western development studios are heavily staffed with diversity hires, including a significant number of outspoken female feminist developers who clearly know what’s best for consumers and their target audience.
This has led to a trend where actresses hired for body and facial scanning are intentionally altered to appear more masculine and unattractive. This is done deliberately by liberal developers who feel threatened by traditional beauty standards and see it as “competition.”
Their goal is to censor or remove any non-fat, moderately attractive women from the gaming industry, driven by jealousy rather than genuine concerns. This is why they, along with similarly-minded journalists, label the portrayal of beautiful women in games as “sexist” and “objectifying.”
They push these narratives not in the name of equality, but to diminish femininity in gaming in an attempt to boost their own self-esteem, rather than focusing on self-improvement.
The strategy of pushing androgyny is backfiring, as it’s clear that most consumers aren’t interested in subpar game products. Star Wars Outlaws is a prime example, looking and performing worse than earlier titles built on the Snowdrop engine.
As a supposed “stealth” game, Star Wars Outlaws lacks basic fundamentals. The AI is woefully dimwitted, the physics are almost nonexistent, and the protagonist, depicted as a Mary Sue, can effortlessly defeat enemies with her bare hands and hide in plain sight.
The stealth mechanics feel tacked on, as if the game is holding your hand, making the entire experience feel half-baked.
The intentional alteration of female actresses, who are scanned and modeled for modern video games but end up looking like masculine androgynous blobs is uncanny. Even gaming journalists have acknowledged the issue while simultaneously defending DEI initiatives, dismissing “conspiracy theories” that this is done deliberately but more rather it’s a technological limitation.
Though it sure as shit is funny to watch these pathetic weasels squirm as game developers seemingly have no problem accurately scanning and recreating male characters, whether Black or White while female characters, modeled after real actresses, come out looking completely off-base, as if the ugly stick broke on impact.
If Western developers are going to deliberately transform attractive models into unattractive caricatures, one has to wonder why they bother hiring them in the first place. This disconnect may be one of the many reasons why game companies struggle to maintain project budgets.
Meanwhile, Star Wars Outlaws has been a failure for Ubisoft, leading investors to demand changes in leadership. They’re calling for a new CEO who can “optimize costs and studio structure” to make the company more agile and competitive, highlighting Ubisoft’s need for a serious overhaul.
AJ Investments has proposed that Ubisoft go private under the Guillemot family, with Tencent as a major partner and shareholder. However, this move is unlikely to make a significant difference, given Tencent’s strong alignment with BlackRock’s progressive behavioral ideologies.
Additionally, AJ Investments is calling for Ubisoft to “implement a comprehensive cost reduction program and optimize staffing levels to align more closely with industry leaders.” They also suggest that Ubisoft consider selling off some of its studios, particularly those that focus on non-core games.
This approach could help Ubisoft streamline its operations and focus on its core intellectual properties. However, in reality, even their “core” development teams responsible for franchises like Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed are falling short. These teams are struggling to produce successful titles, evident from the poor reception of games like Star Wars Outlaws and Skull and Bones.
If Ubisoft fails to meet these demands, AJ Investments has threatened to use French minority shareholder law to gather enough support for a proxy fight and initiate the sale of Ubisoft to increase shareholder value for all investors.
It’s worth noting that AJ Investments holds just 1% of Ubisoft’s shares.
Ubisoft has faced repeated failures with its game launches in recent years, leading to a significant decline in consumer sentiment. This negative perception has been fueled by what many see as excessive diversity pandering and ideologically driven content in their games.
The upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, one of Ubisoft’s most expensive franchises both commercially and developmentally features a progressive Black samurai set during the Sengoku period, where players are tasked with fighting Japanese natives.
Given the company’s current financial struggles, if Assassin’s Creed Shadows performs poorly like Star Wars Outlaws, it could spell disaster for Ubisoft. The company’s trajectory seems to be heading towards a potential sale to a larger entity, such as Microsoft or Tencent.
