Ubisoft FY12- digital sales up 110%, CEO talk next-gen
Ubisoft has released its financial report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, and thanks to a 110% increase in online sales, profits for the firm hit €37.4 million ($47.7 million) with sales hitting €1.06 billion ($1.3 billion). Online and digital sales were €80 million.
The firm said its core titles brought in €578 million, while its casual games sector reported sales of €483 million. Assassin's Creed: Revelations shipped 7.2 million units, and Driver: San Francisco and Rayman Origins both shipped 2 million a piece.
"Ubisoft achieved a 90% surge in current operating income in fiscal 2011-12, in the upper range of the targets announced a year ago," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot in a prepared statement. "This achievement was notably spurred by strong growth in online/digital revenue.
"We ended the year in a solid financial position - all the while having continued to invest in the future - primarily thanks to better-than-expected cash flows.
"Thanks to our focus on ramping up our teams' online expertise, combined with the know-how brought in by our recent acquisitions and with the recruitment of specialized talent, we are now in a position to fully seize the numerous current and future opportunities of the video game industry."
Guillemot also said in his prepared remarks the firm expects next-gen consoles to be "increasingly connected," which he feels will "boost the market" thanks to what he called a "qualitative leap." The CEO also expects the next round of hardware to benefit from social integration and "the [free-to-play] item based model."
For Q1 of the current fiscal year, Ubisoft expects an 11% year-over-year increase in sales of €115 million due to its release slate which includes: Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and over 15 online and digital titles such as Trials Evolution on XBLA and Silent Hunter Online and web-based, free-to-play titles.
Ubisoft also has at least seven Wii U titles in the works and the cost of each is in line with costs attributed to PS3 and 360 development. The firm also said development cost on unannounced next-gen systems are also in line with current game development costs.