Ubisoft today reported earnings for the quarter ended June 30, and one of the standout statistics is that 75.3 percent of the company’s total sales came from digital channels. This is up significantly from the same three-month period last year, when it stood at 56 percent.
Digital net revenue was €104.8 million, while total sales for Ubisoft during the period stood at €139.1 million. The 75.3 percent digital share represents a new record high for Ubisoft. This number being so high may have something to do with the slower summer months, as opposed to the retail-centric holiday period. For comparison, digital sales made up 32 percent of Ubisoft’s total sales for all of the latest fiscal year.
Ubisoft also mentioned that its digital revenue figure includes what it calls "recurring player investment," which came in at €47.9 million. This is up 113.8 percent compared to last year. Recurring player investment includes the sale of digital items, as well as DLC, season passes, subscriptions, and advertising.
Overall, Ubisoft’s sales during the quarter jumped by 44 percent. By comparison, it raked in €96.6 million during the same period last year. Ubisoft also mentioned that its €139.1 million in net revenue for the quarter is above its target of €125 million.
Another area of success for Ubisoft during the period was back catalog sales, which rose 36.3 percent to €126.8 million. This demonstrates the "increasingly recurring nature of our operations," Ubisoft said.
"The outlook for the video game industry has never been so promising," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a statement. "Our growth drivers going forward include the digital transformation, the strong momentum of the PC, console and mobile markets, expansion into new geographic regions (including Asia), the excellent potential of eSports and virtual reality and the extension of the group’s brands beyond video games. All of these factors will help us pursue our strong pace of value creation in the coming years."
Also included in Ubisoft’s earnings report today was a slide that speaks to the percentage of sales by platform. As you can see, PlayStation 4 leads the way at 31 percent, but the Xbox One‘s year-over-year increase from 11 percent to 23 percent was far greater than the PS4’s rise from 27 percent to 31 percent. Also of note: Xbox 360 rose by 2 percent, while PlayStation 3 fell by 8 percent.
Ubisoft will hold an briefing later today to discuss these results and answer questions. Check back soon with GameSpot for more.
Source: GameSpot
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