Ubisoft eyes microdrama market but considers it too ‘cheap’ to enter for now

The financially troubled French games publisher Ubisoft is considering entering the microdrama market but is holding back until content quality standards in this booming market improve, according to its head of film and TV.

Taieb Ben Amor

“We are definitely thinking about it,” Taieb Ben Amor, director of production and business affairs of Ubisoft’s film and television division, said about the microdrama sector.

However, the exec noted that Ubisoft, which is behind Assassin’s Creed, one of the best-selling games of all time, would only invest in the market once it could see an improvement in the content quality standards of microdramas. “For now, it looks a bit cheap,” he said.

Microdramas, designed for bingeing in 90 second instalments on mobile devices, reached global revenues of US$11bn last year and will grow to US$14bn by the end of 2026, according to UK research firm Omdia.

But concerns about the quality of the content, which some in the industry have described “as nothing more than dressed up porn” are growing, while those working in the sector are acknowledging audience fatigue with the trope-laden narratives of the format.

Amor acknowledged that microdrama is “a big market” and “a big trend,” but he emphasised Ubisoft is “just thinking [about entering the market] for the moment.”

Amor made his remarks while outlining the content strategy of Ubisoft’s film and TV division at Cartoon Next, an event for industry professionals focused on the future of animation and digital content, held over three days in Marseille, France this week.

The presentation follows Ubisoft’s announcement in January that it is expecting to make an operating loss of €1bn (US$1.2 bn) this year and has put in place an organisational restructuring involving some €200m in cost cuts. As part of the cutbacks, it announced it was cancelling the development of six video games, including Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and postponing the release of seven others.

Ubisoft’s film and TV division, which was first established in 2011, escaped the cuts announced in January. Amor, who joined the company in 2017, said a lean approach has helped the division survive in tough times for the industry. Using a gaming metaphor, he said: “We’re Sam Fisher […] We work in stealth mode, so nobody sees us. We are very small, we bring a lot to the table, we bring some revenues. And so, this is the secret of keeping alive among this difficult time.”

The company is currently in production on a live-action series adaptation of  Assassin’s Creed for Netflix.

The division has produced various content, including Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, an adult animated espionage action television series, which premiered on Netflix in October 2025, kids’ projects around Rabbids IP and adult series Captain Laserhawk, also for Netflix.