Publishing giant Ubisoft has raised its financial outlook for fiscal year 2007-2008 as a result of strong performance from the year’s crop of games.
The company said it expects total sales for the fiscal year to reach approximately €920 million ($1.45 billion), up from a previous estimate of €875 million ($1.38 billion). Ubisoft also said its current operating income before stock options would represent around 14 percent of sales, rather than 13 percent as previously estimated. Sales outlook for the fourth quarter of the fiscal year has also been raised, from €165 million ($261 million) to €210 million ($332 million).
“As expected, 2008 is off to be a record year for the videogame market and our games have performed remarkably well in this context,” said Ubisoft President and CEO Yves Guillemot. “Assassin’s Creed and our Games For Everyone brands continued their strong performance and Tom Clancy’s Rainbox Six Vegas 2 had a better than expected start. One year after the great success of the first title, the second iteration, which provides another unique multi-player experience in the much enjoyed Tom Clancy environment, is ranked among the top games on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in almost every country.”
Ubisoft signaled its commitment to the Tom Clancy brand earlier in March when it bought the rights to the Tom Clancy name for an initial payment of €20 million ($31.5 million), with future payments of undisclosed sums to follow in 2008-2009 and 2009-2010. Following that, Guillemot revealed that a Tom Clancy-branded MMOG could also be in the works soon.
