Assassin’s Creed Valhalla helps drives ‘strongest quarter in Ubisoft’s history’
Company claims it was the No.1 publisher in terms of unit sales in 2020
Ubisoft has reported “the strongest quarter” in its history, driven in part by record launch sales for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
The company posted record net bookings of over €1 billion ($1.21 billion) for the third quarter of fiscal 2020-21, which covers the three-month period ended December 31, 2020.
Among its quarterly operational highlights, Ubisoft said Assassin’s Creed Valhalla generated record revenue for the long-running series.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla Guides:
The company said in November 2020 that the 12th major instalment in the franchise sold more units in its first week than any other entry in the series, which had at the time sold over 155 million units since debuting in 2007.
UPDATE: During Ubisoft’s earnings call, chief financial officer Frederick Duguet confirmed that Assassin’s Creed 3 still holds the record in terms of franchise unit sales during a launch quarter.
Released on October 30, 2012 (Valhalla launched later in the year on November 10, 2020), Assassin’s Creed 3 had shipped over 12 million units by the end of December.
“On the Assassin’s Creed franchise in terms of unit count at the end of December, Assassin’s Creed 3 is still the biggest launch but in value, clearly, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the biggest launch ever for the franchise,” Duguet said.
“It has benefitted from a much stronger level of engagement, of playtime, and will also benefit from a stronger and longer post-launch programme than Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.”
ORIGINAL STORY CONTINUES: During Ubisoft’s third quarter, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege topped 70 million registered players, Just Dance back-catalogue sales surged over 200%, while Brawlhalla, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, Far Cry 5, The Crew 2 and Anno 1800 enjoyed “robust growth”.
Among its 2020 highlights, Ubisoft said it ranked as the No.1 publisher in terms of unit sales on all platforms combined last year.
On PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Ubisoft ranked as the No.2 publisher in terms of total consumer spending, with Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion and Immortals Fenyx Rising among the seven best-selling games on the new consoles.
Ubisoft also claimed to be the No.1 third-party publisher on Switch in 2020, with Just Dance 2020 the 8th best-selling game.
“Our strategy continues to bear fruits,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “We achieved the strongest quarter in Ubisoft’s history, by far, thanks to the quality of our releases and the depth of our catalog.
“We are immensely proud of our teams who, in exceptionally challenging times, launched four great titles across multiple platforms and simultaneously continued to enrich our Live services. This is an unparalleled achievement and they showed remarkable adaptability and resilience. Our ability to execute at such a high level of quality demonstrates the power of our production model and the sustainability of our organization.”
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