Ubisoft First Quarter Sales Plummet
Splinter Cell Conviction and Red Steel 2 Delayed
Red Steel 2
Ubisoft has released its figures for the first quarter of 2009-2010 and they make for torrid reading:
"Sales for the first quarter of 2009-10 came to €83 million, down 50.6%, or 50.8% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €169 million recorded for the same period of 2008-09", are the bald facts of the matter.
Along with the general "Poorer-than-anticipated market conditions", the company claims that, "A slowdown in sales of Nintendo DS games in Europe and the United States that was more pronounced than expected, impacting back-catalog sales as well as new launches."
But it's not simply the DS to blame. "Significantly lower back-catalog sales of titles for Playstation 3 and Xbox360 than in the first quarter of 2008-09" are also in the firing line.
One part of Nintendo is, however, is doing well for the French company with "Significant market share gains on the Wii since the start of the calendar year (7.2% market share in Europe versus 4.6% one year earlier, and 4.5% in the United States compared with 2.7%)."
The future also looks grim compared to last year with, "Sales for the second quarter of 2009-10... expected to come in at around €80 million, representing a 54% decrease on the second quarter of 2008-09."
This doesn't just mean pain for Ubi shareholders and staff, it also means that gamers are going to have to wait for some significant titles as we're told, "Splinter Cell Conviction and Red Steel 2, whose releases were previously planned for the third fiscal quarter, will now be released in the fourth fiscal quarter."
And it doesn't stop there. Ubi has also stated that, "Ghost Recon and I am Alive, which were previously scheduled for release in the fourth fiscal quarter, will now strengthen the line-up for fiscal 2010-11."
CEO, Yves Guillemot, is not all doom and gloom, stating that: "The excellent response to our games at E3, as well as the high buzz generated for titles such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Avatar, reinforce our belief that the company can achieve strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year."
"Sales for the first quarter of 2009-10 came to €83 million, down 50.6%, or 50.8% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €169 million recorded for the same period of 2008-09", are the bald facts of the matter.
Along with the general "Poorer-than-anticipated market conditions", the company claims that, "A slowdown in sales of Nintendo DS games in Europe and the United States that was more pronounced than expected, impacting back-catalog sales as well as new launches."
But it's not simply the DS to blame. "Significantly lower back-catalog sales of titles for Playstation 3 and Xbox360 than in the first quarter of 2008-09" are also in the firing line.
One part of Nintendo is, however, is doing well for the French company with "Significant market share gains on the Wii since the start of the calendar year (7.2% market share in Europe versus 4.6% one year earlier, and 4.5% in the United States compared with 2.7%)."
The future also looks grim compared to last year with, "Sales for the second quarter of 2009-10... expected to come in at around €80 million, representing a 54% decrease on the second quarter of 2008-09."
This doesn't just mean pain for Ubi shareholders and staff, it also means that gamers are going to have to wait for some significant titles as we're told, "Splinter Cell Conviction and Red Steel 2, whose releases were previously planned for the third fiscal quarter, will now be released in the fourth fiscal quarter."
And it doesn't stop there. Ubi has also stated that, "Ghost Recon and I am Alive, which were previously scheduled for release in the fourth fiscal quarter, will now strengthen the line-up for fiscal 2010-11."
CEO, Yves Guillemot, is not all doom and gloom, stating that: "The excellent response to our games at E3, as well as the high buzz generated for titles such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Avatar, reinforce our belief that the company can achieve strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year."
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