Core gamers came out in a big way for publisher Ubisoft in the third quarter of the company’s fiscal year 2013.
The Assassin’s Creed publisher generated $1.08 billion in sales during Q3, which is up 23 percent from fiscal 2012’s $875 million. Ubisoft cited “outstanding performance” from core gamers as the primary driver of these massive numbers.
Assassin’s Creed III, the latest game in the historically set open-world series, shipped 12 million copies. That represents a 70 percent increase over Assassin’s Creed: Revelations.
The publisher also noted that its open-world first-person shooter Far Cry 3 exceeded expectations with 4.5 million copies shipped.
Ubisoft is experiencing “sharp growth” in digital sales. Revenue from that sector is up 143 percent to $73 million. Digital distribution of the aforementioned Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3 led to the biggest increase, but downloadable games like Trials Evolution on Xbox Live Arcade and Rayman Jungle Run on iOS and Android contributed significantly on this front.
Casual gamers continue to pick up Just Dance 4, but not in the same volume as with previous games in the series. The publisher shipped 8 million units of its latest motion-controlled dancing title, which is down from Just Dance 3.
Ubisoft raised its outlook for fiscal 2013 from $1.62 billion to a range of $1.67–$1.70 billion.
In this quarter, the company will release Trials Evolution on PC, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes on iOS, and Anno Online in open beta on PC.