VU Games revenues drop again in September quarter

Publisher Vivendi Universal Games has announced its revenue figures for the quarter ended September 30th, revealing that sales declined by some 18 per cent year on year as this year's release schedule failed to impress in comparison to last year's.

Revenues for the quarter stood at 63 million Euro, which represents a total decline of 18 per cent but a slightly smaller decline of 14 per cent if currency fluctuations are taken into effect, since Vivendi does much of its business in US dollars but reports in Euro.

The division pointed to last year's strong line-up of titles during Q3 by way of explanation for the decline - this time last year the firm had published titles including The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and Homeworld 2, which is much stronger than its Q3 line-up this year.

However, VU Games is hopeful that it will be able to turn around that position in the fourth quarter, as between now and Christmas it will launch two hugely anticipated PC titles - Valve's long-awaited first person shooter Half-Life 2, and Blizzard's massively multiplayer title World of Warcraft.

The games division's tough result compares with an overall improvement in the situation for Vivendi Universal group as a whole, which actually saw a six per cent rise in like for like earnings during the September quarter, bringing revenues to 4.7 billion Euro - although actual figures were down 20 per cent due to the disposal of much of the company's media business earlier this year.