Ubisoft has posted its highest ever sales in the fourth quarter of the outgoing fiscal year, which ended on March 31.
Having successfully fought off an attempted hostile takeover by Vivendi last year, the French publisher is in ruder financial health than ever before. It posted net revenues for the 2017 financial year of €1.73 billion – up 19 per cent on the previous year – and net income up 29 per cent to €139.5 million. Those figures were boosted by the success of Far Cry 5, which generated $310 million in income in its first week on sale, and the company said that Assassin’s Creed: Origins enjoyed the best-ever fourth-quarter performance of any Assassin’s Creed title.
CEO Yves Guillemot said: “During the fourth quarter, we reached a record of peak concurrent users thanks to record engagement levels and esports viewership for Rainbow Six Siege, the successful launch of Far Cry 5 — the second biggest launch in Ubisoft’s history — and continued strong performance by Assassin’s Creed Origins, Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle and our back-catalogue titles. As a result, we have outperformed our financial targets, with record-high sales, digital and back-catalogue revenues, and profitability.”
There is bad news for gamers, however: Ubisoft has announced that Skull & Bones, its pirate-ship action-adventure game spun off as an IP form Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, has been delayed until the financial year which begins in April 2019, “To offer players an even more engaging experience.”
Blockbusting Ubisoft titles like The Crew 2 and The Division 2 will arrive this year, however, and it’s likely that the company will have a few surprises up its sleeve for this year’s E3 Show, due to take place between 12 and 14 June in Los Angeles. As ever, we’ll continue to keep you updated.
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