Q1 revenues soar for Ubisoft

French Software publisher Ubisoft has posted its first quarter financial results, showing a significant rise of 62 per cent in revenue and beating the company's previous forecast for the period.

Revenue for the quarter was posted at 70 million Euro, up from 43 million Euro for the same period a year earlier. The figures are a marked increase on the company's own projections announced in April as part of the publisher's Q4 and full year revenues for fiscal 2005-2006.

The company attributes its revenue growth primarily to continued investment in next-generation platforms, noting that 85 per cent of Q1 sales were driven by PC and Xbox 360 titles.

Heroes of Might and Magic on PC sold more than 350,000 units, while Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter on PC and Xbox 360 has sold more than 570,000 units, Ubisoft reports.

In terms of market share, North American sales were up 34 per cent, representing 49 per cent of total revenue (31 per cent a year earlier) and expanding the publisher's US market share to 7 per cent overall.

Looking ahead, Ubisoft is anticipating sales of 78 million Euro for the second quarter, led by titles including Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Open Season and Enchanted Arms. During the third quarter, next-gen releases such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Red Steel and the recently announced acquisiition of the Driver franchise are expected to contribute to further positive growth for the publisher.

Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO, commented: "Ubisoft continues its investments in order to be a dominant player on next-generation consoles. Driver is a mythic brand which has already sold more than 14 million units around the world. This striking acquisition allows us to enter the driving game segment, one of the most important segments in the video game industry. Weâve already proved our ability to relaunch brands and make them into franchises that create strong value."