Ubisoft predicts R980 million loss, sales down

Ubisoft has announced its financial results for Q3 financial year 2013-14 (October – December 2013), revealing that the company took a massive hit to sales numbers compared to the previous year, with a predicted financial year loss of approximately €65 million (±R981 million).

Sales for Q3 2013-14, the crucial holiday sales period, came to €520 million, down 35.2% compared with the €802 million recorded for third-quarter 2012-13.

For the first nine months of fiscal 2013-14 (April – December 2013) sales totaled €813 million, versus €1,081 million in the corresponding prior-year period. This represents a decrease of 24.8%.

Ubisoft expects sales to come in at approximately €1,000 million for full-year 2013-14, compared with the previous target of between €995 million and €1,045 million.

Their operating loss for full-year 2013-14 is expected to amount to approximately €65 million (±R981 million), versus the previously-announced range of between €70 million and €40 million.

The company is standing by its operating income target of at least €150 million (±R2.2 billion) for 2014-15.

Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag

Q3 2013-14 saw the following highlights:

Good performance from Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, with 10 million sell-in units.
Just Dance recorded 6 million sell-in units.
Lower-than-expected sales for Rocksmith 2014, with around 1 million sell-in units.
Digital sales of €53 million, representing a 4% contraction on the third quarter of 2012-13, when these sales were propelled by the release of Far Cry 3. For the first nine months of 2013-14, however, digital sales increased year on year by 12% to €123 million, fuelled by digital distribution, free-to-play games and DLC sales.
A 21% contraction in back-catalog sales to €53 million, due to the console transition period.

Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, discussed the state of the industry and its affects on Ubisoft’s performance:

“The launches of the PS4 and Xbox One were both hugely successful, with sales of these machines more than doubling those for the previous generation and confirming the growth potential of the console market in the coming years. Over the short term, the high quality of our titles – which is unanimously recognized by gamers – has enabled us to achieve our third-quarter sales target despite the transition period currently affecting the market. Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag performed particularly well, reinforcing the franchise’s long-term potential and therefore its upcoming iteration.

Fiscal 2014-15 will see an exceptional games line-up, with the release of five major titles including Just Dance, The Crew and Watch Dogs, which is scheduled for release in the first fiscal quarter. Our line-up is also expected to reap the benefits of the return to growth in the console market and the increasingly significant impact of digital gaming.”

Watch Dogs screenshot

Ubisoft’s 2013-14 fourth quarter will see the following releases:

South Park: The Stick of Truth, for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
Rayman Legends, for PS4 and Xbox One.
Open betas for The Mighty Quest For Epic Loot and Might & Magic Heroes Online, for PC.