BENGALURU: French multinational video games developer Ubisoft Entertainment SA (Ubisoft) reported a 57.2 per cent (or 60.3 per cent at constant exchange rates) drop in sales to €207.3 million in the half year ended 30 September, 2015 (H1-2015, current half-year) as compared to the €484.2 million in H1-2015 which saw the release of Watch Dogs. The company reported a non-IFRS loss of €65.7 million in the current half-year as compared to a profit of €17.5 million in the corresponding year ago period.
Ubisoft co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Yves Guillemot said “The quality of our back-catalogue and the growing digitization of our business enabled us to deliver a solid performance in the first half of the year, even though – as planned – we did not release any major titles during the period. The fact that more than 80 per cent of our annual sales are expected to be generated in the second half of the year mechanically weighed on our earnings for the first six months.”
Guillemot added, “The outlook for our industry continues to be very promising, with a return to growth, a healthier competitive environment, and the favourable impact of digital. Against this backdrop, Ubisoft has unique value-creating potential. We are ideally positioned in open-world games, whose market share is increasing. We also own our brands and have the in-house skills and expertise to create them. These two significant characteristics offer our shareholders an unrivalled level of long term visibility and security. In addition, the release of numerous multi-player games such as For Honor, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Rainbow Six Siege and The Division represent a major opportunity to develop players’ engagement and grow our highly-profitable digital segment. And lastly, we are pioneers in leveraging our brands in areas beyond video games, as demonstrated by the agreements we have signed with the most powerful international partners such as Columbia, Fox New Regency, Nickelodeon and Warner.”
Guillemot concluded, “We continue developing Ubisoft’s business with the aim of becoming one of the highest-performing groups in the video game industry and a leader in the overall entertainment sector. In doing so, we are offering our shareholders significant value-creation potential for the coming years.”
Sales in Q2-2015-16 (Quarter ended September 30, 2015, current quarter) totalled €110.7 million versus €124.1 million in the corresponding prior-year period, representing a decrease of 10.8 per cent (or 16.8 per cent at constant exchange rates). Ubisoft says that this second-quarter showing was higher than the target of approximately €90.0 million issued when Ubisoft released its sales figures for the first quarter 2015-16.
The company says that the Q3-2016 will see the following main releases:
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate for PC, Playstation4 and Xbox One
Just Dance 2016 for Playstation3, Playstation4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii and Wii U
Rayman Adventures for iOS, Apple TV, Google Play and Amazon
The Crew Wild Run (expansion) for PC, Playstation4 and Xbox One
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege for PC, Playstation4 and Xbox One