Ubisoft expects 2018/19 to be best years in company history

Ubisoft's forecast for the current and next fiscal year sets a new sales records in the history of the French company, as in an earnings call for the first nine months of fiscal year 2018 (ending March 31, 2018), the company revealed that sales up to Q3 total €1,191.2 million, and expect to reach €1,640 million at the end of the fiscal year, €180 million more than the previous year.

Yves Guillemot and his board believes in a strong attach rate of Assassin's Creed Origins' expansion pass and a very successful launch for Far Cry 5. According to their data, FC5 is on track to become the best seller in the series and also the biggest launch of the first half of the year around the world.

Ubisoft's big revenue is based on the ongoing income coming from games as a service, plus the biggest profitability coming from digital distribution (60% of total revenue during this period). For example, Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is the biggest third-party seller for Nintendo Switch, and Ubisoft is also the leading third-party publisher for the platform.

Ubisoft also expects a stratospheric €2,100 million income in the fiscal year 2019, with The Crew 2 and Skull and Bones being two of the games due for release in this year. Do you think this is ambitious of them?

Thanks, Daniel Ahmed from Niko Partners.