Ubisoft has released its third fiscal quarter financial earnings; third-quarter sales are up 24% and the combined first through third quarter sales are up 20%. Sales through the third quarter, which ended on December 31, 2006, were 311 million Euros ($402 million)–up 24% compared to the same time last year, which netted 250 million Euros ($323 million). Sales from the first through third quarters (April through December) were 483 million Euros ($625 million), which is up 20% compared to the same time last year of 403 million Euros ($522 million).
The financial gain of this quarter was attributed to the strong sales of Rainbow Six: Vegas for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PC; Splinter Cell: Double Agent for the PS2, PC, Xbox, GameCube, Wii, and 360; and Red Steel for the Wii, which earned a combined 16 million Euros ($20 million). 63% of third quarter sales were attributed to various console games releases–28% from Xbox 360 games sales, 21% from Wii, and 9% from Nintendo DS. Ubisoft also revealed that Red Steel, and PC games Dark Messiah of Might & Magic and Heroes of Might and Magic V sold a combined 1.9 million units.
The fourth fiscal quarter of 2006-2007 (January-March 2007) will see the release of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 for the 360, PSP, and PC (Ubisoft revealed that the original GRAW sold over 2.9 million units); a game based on the new animated movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"; Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Rainbow Six: Vegas for the PS3; and four new Wii games. Ubisoft is predicting sales to be around 152 million Euros for its fourth quarter despite three Wii games and FPS Haze for the PS3, 360, and PC have been pushed back to fiscal 2007-2008.
Rounding out the financial press release was Ubisoft’s detailed release schedule from January to March 2007. Along with the titles mentioned earlier, the list includes the WWII Flight/Action game Blazing Angels for the Wii; a new Blazing Angels title for the 360 and PC, entitled Blazing Angels: Secret Missions; racing game Driver: Parallel Lines for the Wii and PC; Driver 76 for the PSP; RPG Enchanted Arms for the PS3; Prince of Persia: Rival Swords for the Wii and PSP; Resident Evil 4 for the PC; and WWII submarine simulation game Silent Hunter 4 for the PC.
Back in October, Ubisoft challenged Electronic Arts for dominance of Wii game sales. With the third fiscal quarter earnings now out, it appears Ubisoft has triumphed. Ubisoft was ranked the #1 independent publisher forthe Wii in Europe and U.S., with market shares of 29.2% and 18%, respectively.
Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft stated, "We saw excellent sales for Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas–which ranked as the third best-seller in December for the Xbox 360 system in the United States–as well as sustained success for Red Steel and Rayman, which have ranked number two and three in sales for the Wii in the United States and Europe since the console was launched."
