Watch Dogs was one of the most anticipated games of last year, which was then delayed into this year. Many questioned if Ubisoft could keep the hype train going, but they needn’t have worried – Watch Dogs not only shipped 8 million copies, it pushed up Ubisoft’s revenue. One console even proved to be the best partner.
During an investor call, Ubisoft explained how revenue for the first quarter of the fiscal year was up €360 million ($489.4 million), an increase of 374% year-over-year. They credited downloadable sales of Watch Dogs as the main driver for digital revenue as well – of course it was way more successful than the smaller digital releases like Child of Light or Valiant Hearts. Digital revenue was up 149%.
When divided by platform, the PS4 accounted for 36% of all sales, more than twice that of Xbox One or PS3 who both brought in 17%. PC only brought in 14%, although considering the broken state of Watch Dogs on that platform, it’s understandable that it didn’t bring in as many sales. Also, PS4 has a special Watch Dogs promotion, offering players extra missions; this might have skewed the results slightly as gamers altered their normal preferences in favor of getting more content.
Despite the excellent Q1 results, Ubisoft hasn’t adjusted their full-year sales targets. Unlike last year which saw second quarter releases of Rayman Legends and Just Dance 2014, this quarter is fairly empty for Ubisoft. They have pushed Just Dance 2015 into Q3, meaning the only big releases that we’ll see now from them are Tetris Ultimate and Airmech Arena. Don’t worry about them, though, Assassin’s Creed Unity is set for release in the usual October window and Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has confirmed that an Assassin’s Creed game for last-generation consoles could be revealed “soon”.
At this point, Ubisoft has some excellent IP and practically a license to print money. Their indie-esque games were fantastic, and their AAA titles are not just massive profit-makers, they also seem to be among gamers’ favorites with Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry getting people seriously excited. Just imagine what will happen next year when we get The Division and the new Rainbow 6. Ubisoft has set themselves up for some massive success; I’m just glad that they’re still showing commitment to smaller titles as well. Now, if only they would just completely scrap Uplay…
Last Updated: July 11, 2014
Jac7
July 11, 2014 at 10:05
“Yo Dawg, we heard you like Watch Dogs so much we put a dog in your watch so you could watch your dog, while watching your watch, dawg!”
Admiral Chief Fairburne
July 11, 2014 at 10:09
So heavy hype + broken game = profit?
Hmmmm, TO THE LAB!!!
Rince&pop
July 11, 2014 at 10:10
What happened with A:CM? 0_O
Admiral Chief Fairburne
July 11, 2014 at 10:18
That was heavy hype + totally efffffffed game = egg on face
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 11, 2014 at 10:19
But before it released they promised us it was the bestest game EVAR!11! They promised!
Admiral Chief Fairburne
July 11, 2014 at 10:22
THERE IS NO CAKE
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 11, 2014 at 10:29
Not if Youtube doesn’t sponsor an eSports team.
Rince&pop
July 11, 2014 at 10:28
LULZ!
Alien Emperor Trevor
July 11, 2014 at 10:13
People don’t know it’s broken before pre-ordering. Hopefully they take a bit more care next time instead of relying on EA’s trusted logic of “it sold well therefore people like it & we don’t have to fix it”.
Rince&pop
July 11, 2014 at 10:09
Damn.
Jonah Cash
July 11, 2014 at 10:46
Enjoyed Watch Dogs, will happily buy the second iteration!! Great game on PS4, had hours upon hours of fun!!
Greylingad
July 11, 2014 at 11:07
The only thing that sucks about it is not having a new game+ feature, I would have loved to see that feature but noooo…. denied!
MichaelMatusowsky
July 11, 2014 at 11:51
Keepo
Acornbread
July 11, 2014 at 17:13
Good for them, it’s still broken on PC. Meh.
Ryanza
July 11, 2014 at 19:44
Let’s look at those numbers.
PS4 is outselling the Xbox One. On both systems there’s not a lot of games available. So Watch Dogs will sell a lot more units on the PS4. The numbers shows that.
The interesting part is when you look at the PC sales. There are so much more computers out there than there are consoles. So why did Watch Dogs sell less units on the PC than on Xbox One. That shows to me that there is a big disconnect between Ubisoft and the PC market. But why, piracy, I don’t think so.
Pre Steam, games where selling quite well on the PC. Since Steam I’ve noticed PC gaming sales going down and console gaming sales going up a lot.
Piracy has been the main driving force for Steam, Origin, Uplay, ect. But the sales haven’t increased on the PC market. There is piracy on consoles but sales keep on going up. There was piracy long before Steam and games where selling well on PC. So is piracy really the main factor in poor sales of games on the PC. NO. So why is piracy being used as the main driving force.
The sad truth when you look at it, online activation of video games (DRM) and no second-hand market, those are the main reasons why the PC gaming market crashed. Xbox One had more sales than on the PC, can you see how shocking that is.
No1 speaks about online activation of video games and no second-hand market, as being a major problem for the PC market. The gaming industry says that online activation of video games (DRM) is good and second-hand market is bad. But when I look at it, it’s far from the case.
Sony lightly pointed at it, second hand games will work on PS4 and no 24 hour DRM checks. That has become the major reason why the PS4 is selling so well.
Microsoft wants to bring online activation of video games and no second-hand market, to consoles. Sony said that the people are not ready, maybe in the future. So consoles gamers need to be aware.
So why doesn’t the gaming industry address the major issues concerning poor sales on the PC. Is it maybe that Steam makes a lot of money from online activation of video games and from there not being a second-hand market. Why has Origin and Uplay popped up, is it because Steam was getting way to much money.
At the end of the day it’s us the gamers who suffer. We as gamers need to stand up and not support DRM.
That is why I can’t wait to support CD Projekt RED. And I’m telling everybody to buy The Witcher 3.
Cause I’m really hoping for good numbers for that game.
Don’t support DRM.