Ubisoft, one of the world’s biggest video game publishers, reported a loss today for the six months ended Sept. 30. But never fear. Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3 are likely to come to the rescue.
The French company said that revenues were 279.2 million euros ($357.8 million), up from 248.5 million ($318.5 million) a year ago. The loss was 32.3 million euros ($41.4 million), compared with a loss of 37.1 million euros ($47.5 million) a year ago.
Ubisoft chief executive Yves Guillemot attributed the increase in sales to the shipment of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, which came out in May, as well as initial sales of Just Dance 4. Online revenues were up 59 percent to 28 million euros. Ubisoft also said that it had also spent heavily on large marketing campaigns that are currently happening around the launch of Assassin’s Creed III and Far Cry 3.
Guillemot predicted a record second half of the year based on Assassin’s Creed III, Far Cry 3, and upcoming Wii U games. The target for the year is now expected to be sales of 1.2 billion euros to 1.26 billion, compared with a previous range of 1.16 billion euros to 1.2 billion euros.
In a conference call, Guillemot said that the big new original game, Watch Dogs, will becoming out next year. He also said that Assassin’s Creed III has sold more than 3.5 million copies in its first week, up 100 percent over last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations game.