Ubisoft reports strong growth in full-year sales figures
French publisher Ubisoft has announced its results for the full year to March 31st, revealing a 22 per cent rise in sales which is largely credited to the success of the Tom Clancy licensed range of titles.
French publisher Ubisoft has announced its results for the full year to March 31st, revealing a 22 per cent rise in sales which is largely credited to the success of the Tom Clancy licensed range of titles.
Full-year sales rose to 508 million Euro, despite a small shortfall in the fourth quarter which saw a year-on-year decline of some 15 per cent - although this is more a reflection of the strength of that quarter last year than anything else.
Ubisoft attributes the bulk of its success during the year to the performance of three key titles; two Tom Clancy licensed games, namely Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow and Rainbow Six 3, and one other, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
Each of those games sold over a million units each - Prince of Persia being the company's best selling title, with 2.4 million units sold, ahead of Rainbow Six 3 with 2.2 million and Pandora Tomorrow with 1.7 million (although it launched late in the year and is picking up substantial sales in the current quarter as well).
The company also highlighted two other Tom Clancy titles in its report, with Ghost Recon games Island Thunder and Jungle Storm noted as having sold 1.1 million units between them.
Ubisoft continues to build its business on the other side of the Atlantic, and the publisher this year recorded 47 per cent of its revenues in North America - up from 40 per cent last year, and continuing a growth trend which has been notable over the past few years.
The publisher's report - which is issued according to French standards and as such does not include the same level of detailed financial information that you'd expect from an annual report issued in the USA - also confirms its intent to massively increase its internal development capacity in the coming year. Over 400 new staff will be employed at the Ubisoft development studios in Montreal and Shanghai, according to CEO Yves Guillemot, who said that this bulking up would help to ensure the steady growth of the business.