Ubisoft and the technology trap

https://superjoost.substack.com/p/ubisoft-and-the-technology-trap

Publish Date: 2026-07-15 11:50:00

I’ll admit that spending time on the mountain, away from the noise and 96°F (36 °C) heat in Brooklyn, tends to bring out my caveman self.

Quiet mornings watching deer prance around. A big pot of coffee and a long stare into the distance. Closing the barn door after another nightly visit from the local family of black bears. Naps. A fire in the evenings. Howling at the moon.

Well, no. There’s no howling.

But the quiet does surface a host of new ideas and ambitions. I see now that to live in New York, you have to leave the city for a stretch each summer. Most of all, it forces you to relearn which noises require your attention and which are just the usual rustling of small animals or the wind.

Whatever happens on the mountain, though, I’m bringing it all back with me when I descend to the city. Prepare yourself.

On to this week’s update.

Last week, Ubisoft published its 2025-26 annual report.

Mon Dieu.

The 356-page document records the worst year in the company’s four-decade history and offers telling insight into the industry’s tension between creative talent and technology.

Over the past decade, Ubisoft’s revenue has sat between $1.7 to $3 billion without ever really growing. At the same time, the firm has reported only modest profits. And now, in 2026, it reports a $1.98 billion loss, larger than any profit it had booked over the entire stretch. Ubisoft just suffered a historic loss after canceling six major games under development, which forced it to close two studios and to ask Tencent to cover its debt in exchange for partial ownership of its most successful IP.

It is hardly a surprise then that CEO Yves Guillemot’s opening letter calls 2026 “a year of decisive action” and “one of the most ambitious transformations in the Company’s history.”