Ubisoft’s Quiet Financial Report With a Loud AI Message
Ubisoft finally released its delayed H1 FY26 financial report and it turned out to be far less dramatic than some fans expected. There was no sudden cash disaster, no secret buyout by Tencent, and no explosive twist behind the delay.
The real reason was surprisingly boring. Ubisoft had appointed new auditors in July, which slowed the math and paperwork behind the scenes. So the delay that had people speculating about major trouble came down to accounting logistics rather than a company crisis.
Even though the numbers themselves did not cause huge waves, the report still delivered one big talking point. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot used the moment to double down on something he clearly wants everyone to focus on. Generative AI and what it could mean for future Ubisoft games.
AI As Big As The Move To 3D?
During the presentation Guillemot claimed that generative AI is as big a revolution for gaming as the shift from 2D to 3D. That is a massive statement when you remember how much 3D changed everything from Super Mario 64 to the first wave of open world games.
According to Guillemot, Ubisoft is making great strides with AI on what he calls high value use cases. In plain language that means he believes AI will matter both to players and to developers, not just as a flashy tech demo.
On the player side Ubisoft is building on a concept it revealed earlier. Its AI powered neo NPCs. These are non player characters designed to use generative AI to create more dynamic conversations and reactions. The pitch is that every interaction with an NPC could feel unique and tailored to how you play.
Ubisoft first showed this idea in 2024 and now Guillemot says it has already advanced from prototype to something closer to player reality. He hinted that the company will share more before the end of the year, which implies that we may see these AI driven characters show up in an actual game or live test soon.
On the development side Guillemot says teams across all Ubisoft studios are experimenting with AI for:
- Programming support such as helping write or review code
- Art pipelines including concepts and asset generation
- Overall game quality from faster iteration to internal tools
Basically Ubisoft wants AI handling more of the repetitive or time consuming tasks so that human teams can focus on design, storytelling, and polish. At least that is the ideal vision being sold to investors and the public.
Hype, Reality, And The AI Bubble Vibes
If you feel like you have heard all this before, you are not alone. The gaming and tech world have been flooded with grand AI promises for the last few years. Personalized NPCs, smarter worlds, endless replayability. Every big publisher and platform holder has some version of the same pitch.
The article points out that Guillemot’s language fits right in with what almost every major tech CEO is saying. With over a trillion dollars already poured into AI worldwide, none of these leaders can really step on stage and say they are not betting big on it. That would raise more eyebrows than another round of lofty promises.
But the mood around AI is shifting. Even outside of gaming, people are starting to question how much of the current hype is real progress and how much is investors chasing the next big bubble. Recently Google CEO Sundar Pichai admitted there has been some irrationality in the AI gold rush. At the same time stock markets have become more nervous as analysts talk louder about an AI bubble forming.
That broader skepticism spills into games too. Players have heard similar miracle claims before about motion controls, 3D TVs, VR waves, blockchain and NFTs. Some of those technologies found a solid place, others faded into niche use or outright backlash.
The article is not arguing that AI will disappear. In fact it suggests the opposite. AI will likely become another permanent part of the development toolkit. Studios will use it for debugging, asset creation, quest scripting help, testing, and maybe occasionally for interesting player facing features.
What the writer questions is the messianic tone. Phrases like new industrial revolution and as big as the shift to 3D just do not land the same way in 2025. There is a sense that the shine has come off the big promises. People want to see finished games that are actually better to play, not more high concept talks at investor calls.
In that light Guillemot’s speech feels like a textbook example of the current moment. A company that has to reassure investors with big AI talk while players mostly shrug and wait to see what really ships. Maybe if the financial report had not been delayed for six days, the AI sermon would have made a bigger splash. Instead it landed in a world that is a little more cautious, a little more skeptical, and a lot more interested in whether the next Assassin’s Creed actually feels fresh.
For now Ubisoft insists it is moving from prototypes to reality with its neo NPCs and other AI tools. The real test will be simple. Do future Ubisoft games feel smarter, more reactive, and more fun to play or will AI turn out to be just another buzzword that looked great on a slide deck but never truly changed the experience on your screen.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/ubisoft-says-ai-is-as-big-a-revolution-for-our-industry-as-the-shift-to-3d-its-magical-ai-npcs-are-out-of-prototyping-and-you-bet-its-got-all-our-studios-working-with-the-tech/
