It’s that time of year again; with most publishers’ financial years ending 31 March, it’s now time for earnings calls and reports on how the financial year went. Ubisoft reported its full year earnings, revealing sales of €1 394 million and a 12% rise in profitability. Digital sales were €446.7 million, up 16.7% and accounting for 32% of total sales.
Ubisoft CEO and awesome little man Yves Guillemot released a statement noting just how well The Division and Far Cry Primal performed.
We ended fiscal 2015-16 on a very positive note, having effectively executed our plan: the performances delivered by The Division and Far Cry Primal exceeded our expectations, we continued our major come-back in the multiplayer segment and we saw a significant increase in player engagement levels for our games. The Division currently has 9.5 million registered users, and active players are playing the game an average of three hours per day. These successes resulted in our digital segment outperforming our targets for the fiscal year and positively impacted our profitability.
[…] Over the past few years, we have considerably strengthened our portfolio of owned brands. For example, we have tripled the audience for Far Cry, doubled it for Rainbow Six, and launched The Division and Watch Dogs which were the first and third-largest releases ever for a new video game brand. In parallel, we have increased the sales weighting of our digital segment to 32%, primarily through organic growth.
It’s great to see the growth in existing and new franchises – I wasn’t expecting Far Cry Primal to do well, but apparently its performance helped push Ubisoft’s profitability up. And The Division has done remarkably well, not just for a new IP but as a title in general.
However, I’m most intrigued by the continuing rise in digital sales. I can’t say I’m surprised. Personally, I only really tend to buy games at retail in Collector’s Editions – everything else I grab digitally. It seems that other people around the world are shifting towards digital purchases. While it certainly is convenient, and probably the way of the future, I can’t help but think back to Gavin’s predictions back in 2013 about the impact digital sales will have on local gaming. While the timing of his predictions might not be accurate, and his views are rather extreme, they are seemingly increasingly on point. As we all shift towards digital purchases, what will happen to our local market?
Last Updated: May 13, 2016
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:08
Not once, but TWICE last night, there were closed door bugs in Division.
Anyone else noticed MORE bugs recently?
Commander Bob
May 13, 2016 at 08:10
Besides the door bugs, sometimes when you matchmake and join someone else’s game the mission doesn’t start. You need to leave and hope you aren’t the last one to get stuck with the buggy instance. Other than that, it’s been a good experience for me.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:11
The SP mode is at least not buggy
Pariah
May 13, 2016 at 08:11
Yet another case for #ForeverSP?
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:22
More like #ForeverCo-Op
Pariah
May 13, 2016 at 08:26
GAH. What’s with all this co-op crap? KILL ALL THE THINGS….
Ok I hate PvP. I like co-op. Shut up. Don’t judge me.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:44
JUDGE HEADPANTS FINDS YOU NOT GUILTY!
I also far prefer co-op to pvp.
Pariah
May 13, 2016 at 08:46
Judge Headpants has a really nice ring to it. Suits you.
Commander Bob
May 13, 2016 at 08:11
True but the game is way more fun with friends.
Greylingad[He Charges!]
May 13, 2016 at 08:17
I noticed those a while back, you’ll start a mission and suddenly the door is closed and no manner of fast travelling to other locations or going to the DZ and then back fixes it, annoying…
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 08:26
No, because I stopped playing it two months ago 😛
Pariah
May 13, 2016 at 08:26
Wasn’t it released 2 months ago? O-o
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 08:26
That’s how quickly I lost interest
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:29
The fawr has truly broken you
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 09:10
Nope, got tired of the co-op mmo shooting grinding model. The biggest issue is the gunplay is boring, at least it’s fun to kill thing in Destiny so people don’t mind the grind
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 09:17
Yeah well you did overdo it a little in Destiny , how many hours did you clock in ?
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 09:19
600+
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 09:30
WTF , no can’t be.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 09:42
607 on my Titan
36 on my Warlock
27 on my Hunter
😛
HairyEwok
May 13, 2016 at 08:26
Ubisoft’s gotten all the cash and showed the corporate big dogs how well they did. They followed that up by releasing the bugs on the game again.
Kromas untamed
May 13, 2016 at 08:46
Been playing Overwatch then switched to DayZ with a splash of Diablo and Subnautica and as of today I will be to paraphrase one Doomed Space Marine.
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 08:25
Division…. wished I never bought it, game died quicker than Kenny in South Park
Ottokie
May 13, 2016 at 08:28
^this times infinity
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:32
How was the SWR marathon?
Ottokie
May 13, 2016 at 08:33
Season 1 done and dusted, on to season 2 this weekend
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:41
End of season one’s last episode was the bestest everest because it made me the happiestest.
Ottokie
May 13, 2016 at 08:44
Yup, the last episode hit so hard, I actually went and watched the 1st episode of season 2 just to go see what happens 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:52
AHSOKAAAAAAAAA
Ottokie
May 13, 2016 at 08:53
O.o
Did not expect this reply from you xD
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:56
😀 It was for emphasis.
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 08:36
I got just under a 100 hours in , enjoyed it while it lasted , need some good DLC to bring me back and a way to avoid the darkzone, luckily I have doom,uncharted and homefront to keep me busy.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:37
The new incursion I see has a recommended level of 220 (if I remember correctly)
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 08:38
Holy crap, I am out then hope the DLC gets a fast way to level up, Destiny fixed problems like that, I hope the Division follows suit.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:40
Well, checking the map area, there is a LOT of expansion space. Possibly the other side of the river as well
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 08:43
Nice , I liked the game , but the DZ just broke my excitement for the game.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:45
I was quite happy with it, until last night, when I realized how terrible the hack was.
Andre Fourie
May 13, 2016 at 11:56
That was changed to 150. The new incursion will have the same min gear score as Falcon Lost.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:36
I dunno man, I quite like the co-op.
But yeah, the DZ is a mess. Ran into a group of hackers last night. Was shot and killed with 3 bullets out of an AK, through a wall. Was not scanned, was hidden, so I’ll be avoiding the DZ again
Greylingad[He Charges!]
May 13, 2016 at 08:40
The game was awesome, until the plague of hackers struck it and honestly that broke it’s back for me, the last time we were in the DZ, that was the last time I attempted playing the game, I had great fun with it, but I won’t be returning anytime soon…
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 08:57
Was the same with Destiny. Only much more fun
Mario Zoli
May 13, 2016 at 08:36
so it did
but now compare the players to when it launched and now
i guarantee they have lost more that 60 – 70% of their player base on all platforms
That is a huge loss
Read that pc side lost more than half its player base
Hammersteyn_hates_Raid0
May 13, 2016 at 08:57
Because of hacking I bet
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:40
Digital is just more convenient, it really is. I don’t have to do anything special, I can happily sit on my bed wearing my pants on my head & browse an online store & click on what I want. BOOM. Physical stores that provide the exact same product that I can get digitally, with no added features or benefits for going into their store to purchase from them, will slowly die – because they’ve become inconvenient in comparison. Sad but true. Nearly all the video stores I used to go to have closed down.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:41
“I can happily sit on my bed wearing my pants on my head…”
Don’t you always do this?
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:42
Yes. Doing something special is wearing them like you people.
Admiral Chief in New York
May 13, 2016 at 08:43
You mean like normal people?
Ahhh Trev, never change! All is right in the world when you act this way. The day you start behaving normally, I get worried
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:45
But I am behaving normally. NORMCEPTION!
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 08:45
The last physical copy of a game I bought was early 2015, all my games since is digital, and unless there is collectors edition I really want that’s affordable, I am digital for life :).
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 13, 2016 at 08:47
Excluding the W3 CEs, the last game I bought physically was ME3.
Pariah
May 13, 2016 at 08:47
Mine was Borderlands 2.
Ir0nseraph
May 13, 2016 at 08:51
I have 4 disk games left in my collection , the rest was traded, and my wife approves of this as my disk collection does not clutter up the TV room.
Captain JJ bound
May 13, 2016 at 08:57
Well, a game must be really damn good if it can convince you to use UPlay.