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Story by Johnny Cullen

Tue, Feb 15, 2011 | 10:50 GMT

Ubisoft Q3: Next Assassin’s Creed to be announced in May

Ubisoft’s confirmed that the next Assassin’s Creed title will be announced in May for release in FY2012, and has issued a 6.5 million shipped figure for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

The news came out of the company’s Q3 financials.

“We will have an Assassin’s Creed this year. We are going to give you more details in May,” Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot said in the company’s financial call.

The publisher said that previous AC title Brotherhood has shipped 6.5 million units since it went on sale last November.

Ubisoft said in the call that Brotherhood is performing better than Assassin’s Creed II in terms of revenue, but has shipped less units than the previous game.

Brotherhood is expected to sell in the region of 7-7.5 million units, around 1-1.5 million less than Assassin’s Creed II.

Sticking with AC, the company confirmed in the financial call following the figures release that PSP title Bloodlines, first shipped in 2009, has now sold 500,000 units

Still dancing

Just Dance 1, 2 and Kids, as well as Dance on Broadway and Michael Jackson: The Experience, have sold a combined 10.5 million units.

Guillemot commented that the Just Dance franchise could easily match Guitar Hero’s performance, without emulating Activision’s yearly release schedule.

“Guitar Hero was able to succeed for five years. What they did was launch a new instalment every year… We have launched a few games now and what we see is consumers want more and more songs,” he said.

“There’s a good chance this dance segment can be strong for four or five years like Guitar Hero.”

“There’s a good chance this dance segment can be strong for four or five years like Guitar Hero” – Guillemot

Ubisoft-made titles that supported Kinect have sold 2 million units, although specific titles were not named.

Revenue for the third quarter ending December 31 was €600 million, up 21.2 percent year-on-year from the €495 million in the same period last year.

Q4 sales are expected to be €159 million, down 24 percent year-over-year.

Highlights of the company’s Q4 slate include the PC SKU of Brotherhood, a handful of EU 3DS launch titles and the release of the HD version of Beyond Good & Evil.

For the first nine months in fiscal 2011, Ubisoft saw revenue of €860 million, a 30.3 percent increase compared to the €660 million taken in fiscal 2010.

Ubisoft also saw market share in Europe and the US increase to 9.2 percent and 7.3 percent respectively, compared to 7.8 percent and 5.4 percent for the same period in calendar 2009.

“The video game industry is an industry of opportunities. Creating new genres, innovating to attract new consumers and seizing the opportunities offered by new hardware lie at the heart of Ubisoft’s development and growth,” said Guillemot.

“We have already proven this with the Wii and the DS, and we are further proving it with the recently-launched Kinect, which has met with outstanding success thanks to its revolutionary interface. Ubisoft has also made its mark as a creator of new game genres, with its two flagship brands, Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance.”

Guillemot added: “The record performance achieved in third- quarter 2010-11 as well as the fact that three of our games were among the best sellers over the crucial Christmas period is further evidence of the relevance of our strategy.

“Going forward, we intend to continue to innovate and pursue our refocus on key franchises in the high definition segment, while investing in upcoming opportunities in digital, in the casual segment and in future consoles, notably the 3DS and the NGP.”

Guillemot also confirmed that Ubisoft has decreased commitment to new HD IP, and now plans to launch only one new franchise every two years for HD consoles.