Clancy Xbox games killer for Ubi Soft
'Splinter,' 'Recon' ring up big holiday sales
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Both "Splinter Cell" and "Ghost Recon" were huge hits on Microsoft's Xbox console, exceeding Ubi Soft targets and pushing the French-based company into the No. 3 spot among Xbox game publishers. Xbox sales accounted for nearly half of Ubi Soft's revenues.
The solid session was led by "Splinter Cell," the top Xbox title in both the U.S. and Europe in December. Ubi Soft now expects to sell 2 million units of the game before its fiscal year ends March 31. Versions for PC and the PlayStation 2 will debut in the next few weeks, and they are further expected to plump the company's bottom line.
"Ghost Recon" is already a million seller, seizing the No. 2 spot in U.S. Xbox sales in December. Both "Ghost" and "Splinter" are based on Clancy concepts.
Ubi Soft also cashed in on Clancy's "The Sum of All Fears" vidgame based on last year's film and his novel of the same name. Title sold more than 400,000 units by December's end. A boxing game based on the "Rocky" movies and highly rated fantasy title "Morrowind" also exceeded sales targets.
The third-quarter results marked a huge turnaround for Ubi Soft, which saw revenues drop by nearly half in the first quarter, and drop slightly in the second. But the holiday quarter, traditionally vidgaming's biggest, saw the company capture sales of e190.5 million ($205.4 million), up 15.4% from the same period last year. For the fiscal year so far, however, the company remains down 1.6%. at $298.5 million.Despite the lagging to-date sales, Ubi Soft officials said they remain confident the company will finish the fiscal year at between $460 million and $485 million in sales, up 17%-22% from a year earlier. They attributed that not only to the strong Clancy franchises but also to strong interest in two other titles that are about to hit store shelves, "Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc" and "Raven Shield."
