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Investors didn’t like Ubisoft and Activision’s earnings

Both stocks plunged on the companies' forecasts.

Investors didn’t like Ubisoft and Activision’s earnings

The outlook is good for console manufacturers, but not so much on the software side.

Image: Protocol

Big Tech companies weren't the only ones reporting earnings this week; some of the biggest players in the gaming industry were, too. And there was a sharp divide: While the outlook's good for console manufacturers, things are less peachy on the software side.

Sony and Microsoft both reported earlier in the week, and both companies' gaming divisions had pretty good quarters. While PS4 sales dropped, unsurprisingly, software and subscription revenue soared. And an optimistic outlook for the PS5 — Sony's hoping to sell 7.6 million by the end of March — and the subscription and software sales that should entail, led Sony to raise its full-year operating income forecast by 13%.

  • It was a similar state of affairs for Xbox. Overall gaming revenue was up 22% year-on-year, driven by a 30% boost in gaming content and services. Both companies' results were a reminder that as game purchases shift toward digital, console manufacturers stand to win big.
  • Facebook, the newest entrant to the console wars, is also doing well: It said Oculus Quest 2 preorders were five times higher than the original Quest's, confirming Protocol reporting that the new VR headset is a huge hit.

But buried in Microsoft's release was one worrying number. While a 30% boost in content and services revenue is good, it's a far cry from the 65% growth it reported in the previous quarter. That's reflective of a broader trend: Gaming's COVID-accelerated growth is slowing down.

To be sure, the situation isn't awful: Growth is still strong. But it does seem that the huge boom from earlier in the year is coming to an end, and we're approaching something more like normality again. In a market with consistently high expectations, normal often isn't good enough.

This story will feature in Protocol Gaming, our weekly guide to the business of gaming. Subscribe here.

Shakeel Hashim

Shakeel Hashim ( @shakeelhashim) is a former growth manager at Protocol, based in London. He was previously an analyst at Finimize covering business and economics, and a digital journalist at News UK. His writing has appeared in The Economist and its book, Uncommon Knowledge.

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Fintech

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Photo: Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images

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Photo: Noah Berger/Getty Images for Amazon Web Services

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Farewell from Protocol

Image: Protocol

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Photo: artpartner-images via Getty Images

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