Ubisoft’s abrupt announcement of Far Cry 4 has been followed by some impressive figures from the studio’s earning presentation, not the least of which is a 32% increase in digital sales from the previous fiscal year.
Digital growth is arguably overshadowed by the staggering prediction the company has made for the first quarter of the next fiscal year: a 300% increase. This undoubtedly stems from the company’s software lineup for the remainder of 2014, what with Far Cry 4, Assassin’s Creed: Unity, The Crew and Watch Dogs all releasing this fall.
CEO Yves Guillemot stated (at the company's earnings call) that Ubisoft should “outperform the industry in both 2014 and the following years.” While the industry as a whole struggles to make sense of its new systems—as it rolls in new revenue streams, mind you—established studios like Ubisoft have the opportunity to cash in on two generations of consumers using established IP as a springboard, so the prediction comes as no surprise, especially with Assassin’s Creed clocking in as the fourth biggest brand in gaming.
Guillemot also said that he and Ubisoft are ‘extremely happy’ with Microsoft’s decision to remove Kinect from Xbox One, effectively discounting the system by $100, and “expect the next-gen to grow faster” because of it.
