The Division 2 console sales didn't meet expectations, but ditching Steam boosted Uplay sales on PC
The Division 2 boosted Ubisoft's fourth quarter this fiscal year, but not as highly as the publisher expected.
During its earnings reveal for FY2019, Ubisoft touched on The Division 2, its biggest release in the fourth quarter.
According to the publisher, the game under-performed on PS4, and Xbox One, while selling in line with the original on PC. Ubisoft's chief financial officer Frederick Duguet said the drop was "in large part due to more competitive environment than expected," though he didn't elaborate further.
Despite PC sales being within expectations for PC, Ubisoft noted a more interesting growth metric. The game's sales on Uplay were up 10x compared to the original Division. This was no doubt the result of Ubisoft's decision to skip Steam and instead go with the Epic Games Store.
The move, as Ubisoft predicted, drove more traffic than ever before to its own Uplay store, which is ultimately a big win for the company seeing as it gets to keep 100% of the profits.
Do keep in mind that this does not mean the PC version sold 10x more copies, just that Uplay's share is up significantly.
Stepping away from sales for moment, Duguet noted that The Division 2 broke new records in player engagement, adding that he expects the game to gain traction over time and grow its player base. Further, the game also set new records for season pass sales, despite Ubisoft promising major content updates for free.
Ubisoft didn't share exact sales figures, nor did it make clear what these expectations were in the first place. This isn't surprising, but it's worth noting.