Tag Archives: ubisoft full-year financials 2009

Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and James Cameron’s Avatar will all have downloadable content when they release this year, Ubisoft said today in its full-year earnings call.

The publisher also confirmed today that all three will make it out this side of 2010.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told investors during the company’s full-year financial call today that Apple is set to be a bigger name in gaming and not because of iPhone, but in gaming hardware.

“There’s also a new entrant in the business,” he said. “[That entrant is] Apple, with the iPhone. And we don’t think they will stop there.”

It’s worth noting that Guillemot’s older brother, Michel, runs GameLoft, a huge player in the development of games for iPhone. So he may just know of what he speaks.

Elaborating on his April prediction of new handhelds and consoles, Guillemot spoke more about his thoughts on gaming hardware when prompted by an analyst’s question.

“We will see more customers coming to the video game industry… They will start also to come under the boxes you see under the TV because those TV boxes will be more powerful… We will see more consoles on which we will be able to put products,” he said.

“As for the next generation of consoles we can’t give you a date but from what we see there is a lot of energy to improve the consoles [that are out now]. We are already working on some of the elements that will appeal in the next generation.

“You saw new interfaces with the Wiimote and also with the DS with the stylus. What we see for the future is they will also be big announcement in interfaces. It will not only happen in consoles but also happen on those TV boxes as well.”

Thanks, Kotaku.

Speaking in today’s full-year investor call, Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot narrowed down release dates by quarter for the following titles:

Q3 (November – December 2009)
Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction; Red Steel 2, Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage and Rabbids Go Home.

Q4 (January 2010 to March 2010)
R.U.S.E., I Am Alive and a new Ghost Recon.

Good news for those dying for the much delayed Splinter Cell: Conviction.

Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage will release this holiday, Ubisoft said today.

The sequel will be a Wii exclusive, and put players on a competition tour of locales such as France, New York, Canada, and Japan.

Radical, dude. More from E3. Press release after the break.

More »

Today, Ubisoft released its results for the fiscal year ended March 31, showing sales up 14 percent and a net income of $95.8 million (€68.8 million).

Full year 2008-2009 sales came in at $1.4 billion (€1.05 billion), up 18.4 percent.

“Ubisoft ended fiscal 2008-09 with full-year sales growth of 18.4 percent at constant exchange rates, the second best profitability among comparable companies in its industry, and a 5.1 percent rise in net income excluding non-recurring items and before stock-based compensation,” said CEO Yves Guillemot in a statement.

“This performance illustrates Ubisoft’s unique business model with cost-competitive development studios and some of the most talented developers in the industry. It enables the Group to be at the leading edge of innovation and offer superior quality games, while maintaining a high level of profitability.”

Casual games accounted for 31.9 percent of sales with the distribution end claiming 7.6 percent and a rise in gross profit for the company of $37.4 million (€26.8 million).

Investments increased by 84 million, along with the acquisition of five development studios and the hiring of 1,300 staffers, which Guillemot said will move the company towards higher quality games.

This includes the expansion of the Shawn White Snowboarding series with the release of World Stage in time for the holidays, and a bigger-badder Assassin’s Creed, which cost the company 20 percent more than the previous iteration.