author: Michael Kulakowski
Ubisoft's Latest Financial Report Reveals New Info on Big IPs
According to the latest financial report, last year turned out to be one of the best in Ubisoft's history. The company recorded impressive revenues and a large increase in interest in its products.
It's no secret that the global pandemic has had an extremely positive impact on the profits of major game developers and publishers, as proven by the reports coming out of the offices of Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Activision in recent months. It was no different in the case of Ubisoft. According to the recently published financial report of the French company for the fiscal year 2020 (period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021), record revenues and increased interest in its games were observed.
In the past fiscal year, Ubisoft's product sales revenues totaled 2.2 billion euros. They increased by more than 39% compared to 2019. This sum consisted not only of direct distribution of games. As much as 780 million euros were generated by all kinds of microtransactions (an increase of 11% over the previous year). Ubisoft's games were played by a total of 141 million people around the world, both on consoles and PCs.
The most interesting news is certainly related to the Assassin's Creed franchise, which a few years ago was prophesized a slow death. With the release of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla the series has recorded a drastic increase in revenue in the last twelve months, beating the previous record set in fiscal year 2012 by up to 50%.
At the same time, Ubisoft recorded increased demand for the latest installments of the Just Dance series, as well as "double-digit growth in the player base" for the online shooter Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege. The Tom Clancy's The Division series also brought reasons for satisfaction, with its overall player count surpassing the 40 million mark in 2020. For this reason, Ubisoft plans to continue investing in its development. In the coming months, Tom Clancy's The Division 2 will receive a new DLC, and after that, fans can look forward to the free-to-play spin-off titled Tom Clancy's The Division: Heartland, a live-action film and a new novel, also available on smartphones.
The French giant is also pleased with the solid sales of Immortals: Fenyx Rising and other titles from its vast catalog. In fiscal year 2021, the company plans to release several major titles. The list includes Riders Republic, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Quarantine, the aforementioned Tom Clancy's The Division: Heartland, as well as Far Cry 6 and Roller Champions.
Looking a little further ahead, company executives mention new games/IPs such as Skull & Bones (release has been delayed and will take place in 2022 or 2023), Avatar, as well as Ubisoft's first project set in the universe of Star Wars. It should also be noted that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is among the titles mentioned in the plans, so this confirms the earlier news that the fate of the game was not affected by the departure of its father, Michel Ancel.
