Watch Dogs' 8M copies sold pushes Ubisoft to record Q1

When you sell 8 million copies of a new game, you’re probably gonna smash a few records.

Publisher Ubisoft generated $490 million in sales during its fiscal first quarter. That’s up 374 percent from $103 million during the same period last year. In its financial report for its Q1 of fiscal 2015, the company also revealed that Watch Dogs is already at 8 million copies sold. The open-world hacking game debuted in late May to generally positive reviews, and people quickly ran out to snatch it up. With these blockbuster-level sales, Ubisoft is already gearing up for future installments of Watch Dogs.

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“The success of Watch Dogs and the quality of our games portfolio presented at this year’s E3 highlight our strategic positioning as well as our continuous drive for innovation and affirm our long-term approach,” Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot said in a statement to investors. “Watch Dogs is now well positioned as a major franchise, and we will be able to replicate and build on its success in the coming years.”

Ubisoft specializes in building annual versions of large games. It has released a new Assassin’s Creed every fall since Assassin’s Creed II debuted in 2009. It will likely do the same with Watch Dogs.

Looking forward, Ubisoft is expecting to experience a tough Q2. The publisher is predicting $116 million in sales, which would represent a 61 percent dip compared to the same period in fiscal 2014. That is largely due to the company releasing Splinter Cell: Blacklist, Rayman Legends, and Just Dance 2014 during Q2 last year.

That doesn’t concern Guillemot, who points to the list of games the company presented at the Electronic Entertainment Expo tradeshow in Los Angeles in June.

“Ubisoft created a strong impression at the last E3 with titles such as Assassin’s Creed Unity, The Crew, The Division, Far Cry 4, Just Dance Now, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege,” he said.

For the entirety of fiscal 2015, Ubisoft is anticipating that it will generate $1.9 billion in sales as well as an operating income of $204 million.

“Although the financial year has only just started, our confidence for fiscal 2014-’15 has been reinforced by our first-quarter performance and the keen anticipation for our upcoming games,” said Guillemot.

Assassin’s Creed: Unity, Far Cry 4, and Just Dance Now are all expected before the end of the calendar year. The Division could potentially hit in early 2015, which is Ubisoft’s fiscal Q4.

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