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Ubisoft's revenue is now over 50% digital, microtransaction/DLC revenue up 83%

Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
I included the last slide because it shows Assassin's Creed's digital distribution rate being up 20 percentage points versus the last title. We have a separate thread to discuss its general success.

To be clear, back catalog refers to games released prior to March 2017.

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https://ubistatic19-a.akamaihd.net/comsite_common/en-US/images/d20171107045251ubisoft h1 fy18 slides final_tcm99-305925_tcm99-196733-32.pdf
 
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FelipeMGM

FelipeMGM

#Skate4
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
3,012
40% of total revenue from back catalogue is pretty crazy too

Im sure all the publishers are pushing hard for next gent to be backwards compatible from the start
 
OP
OP
Nirolak

Nirolak

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,660
FelipeMGM said:
40% of total revenue from back catalogue is pretty crazy too

Im sure all the publishers are pushing hard for next gent to be backwards compatible from the start
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Plausibly, but given what Phil was saying, I think publishers wanted to be able to release free next-gen ports of their existing games and have progress transfer over since they make most of their money on microtransactions and DLC anyway.
 
demosthenes

demosthenes

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,599
Was talking to a friend who works for one of the big pubs and one of the recent AAA games he said was at 60% digital. Game stop going to keep feeling the pressure.
 
DomsPlaying

DomsPlaying

Member
Oct 25, 2017
285
NJ & NYC
83% year over year increase in recurring investment.. Wow.

Ubisoft is doing a great job of not just retaining players but also monetizing them.
 
Benji

Benji

Self Requested Ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,114
Digital revenue / full game downloads have quite literally exploded industry wide over the last 12-18 months. A massive shift
 
ZhugeEX

ZhugeEX

Senior Analyst at Niko Partners
Verified
Oct 24, 2017
3,099
FelipeMGM said:
40% of total revenue from back catalogue is pretty crazy too

Im sure all the publishers are pushing hard for next gent to be backwards compatible from the start
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Backwards compatibility =/= Back Catalog.

Back Catalog = titles released prior to March 31st 2017.

In other words, we're talking about Rainbow Six Siege and the like. Those games are being operated as live services, still have high engagement and spend.
Those games are generating a huge amount despite being 1,2,3 or even 4 years old.

That's why everyone is moving to GaaS.
 
Lyrick

Lyrick

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,818
We are so close to the tipping point where studios won't have to cater to Brick and mortar shops anymore.

Alright industry:
  • Please start releasing download games early instead of waiting for the physical release setbacks.
  • Please start feeling free to offer better discounts to compete with competing software in both retail and from other download services.
 
Carlius

Carlius

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,000
Buenos Aires, Argentina
dunno how i feel about that AC franchise is back stuff. i like the idea of one ac every other year, the yearly shit got stale fast.
 
Vinc

Vinc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,387
I really hope they try and make a new Splinter Cell with a GaaS Spies v Mercs element. I love the franchise, and looooved Spies v Mercs in Chaos Theory.
 
TheChungusAmongUs

TheChungusAmongUs

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,601
Carlius said:
dunno how i feel about that AC franchise is back stuff. i like the idea of one ac every other year, the yearly shit got stale fast.
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I hope they understand this, and don't need to put one out every year.

It was acceptable up till AC3 since they wanted to coincide with the 2012 thing with the modern day.

They don't have that excuse anymore, and they must have seen how unity had hurt the series and Syndicate was met with people fatigued of the franchise.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,802
Sorry is the 20% digital increase relative to digital sales only or sales overall?

demosthenes said:
Was talking to a friend who works for one of the big pubs and one of the recent AAA games he said was at 60% digital. Game stop going to keep feeling the pressure.
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Woah.
Ok if this isn't Destiny then I'm damn impressed.
 
Hero

Hero

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,774
ZhugeEX said:
Backwards compatibility =/= Back Catalog.

Back Catalog = titles released prior to March 31st 2017.

In other words, we're talking about Rainbow Six Siege and the like. Those games are being operated as live services, still have high engagement and spend.
Those games are generating a huge amount despite being 1,2,3 or even 4 years old.

That's why everyone is moving to GaaS.
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Click to shrink...

Have any publishers commented on Microsoft doing 360 BC impacting them? I remember COD BLOPS 2 charted earlier in the year (or was it last year?) whenever it was made available as BC. Feel like the next generation is almost pressured to have BC from the start.
 

Deleted member 11426

User Requested Account Closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,628
Greensboro NC
Lyrick said:
We are so close to the tipping point where studios won't have to cater to Brick and mortar shops anymore.

Alright industry:
  • Please start releasing download games early instead of waiting for the physical release setbacks.
  • Please start feeling free to offer better discounts to compete with competing software in both retail and from other download services.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It already happens with movies and is great. I got Atomic Blonde like two weeks ago for $16 on Vudu. The bluray isn't even out until next week I think. Spiderman Homecoming was the same.

I've been all digital this gen and it'll only get better as the market shifts more towards it.
 
Funny Valentine

Funny Valentine

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
2,904
I'm not prepared to pronounce physical as dead. Days are probably numbered for dedicated game stores like Gamestop but general purpose retail like Walmart and Target will always get a physical stock since they are still viewed as important sales drivers.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,802
Alright industry:
  • Please start releasing download games early instead of waiting for the physical release setbacks.
Click to expand...
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Actually yeah, this is very true. The movie industry already does this.
If the games industry did this then digital shares would practically shoot up overnight (and no limited editions with a couple days early access are not the same thing before anyone mentions it =/).
 
Benji

Benji

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Oct 25, 2017
8,114
Funny Valentine said:
Days are probably numbered for dedicated game stores like Gamestop but general purpose retail like Walmart and Target will always get a physical stock since they are still viewed as important sales drivers.
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Indeed. Physical copies will not be obsolete for a long time still. Especially with data caps. At some point the digital adoption rate will level off. Where that is, who knows. But yes as you said dedicated gaming stores ala GameStop face very serious long term issues and will be forced to drastically change and evolve their business model if they plan to remain a healthy business.
 
Vashetti

Vashetti

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,553
ZhugeEX said:
Backwards compatibility =/= Back Catalog.

Back Catalog = titles released prior to March 31st 2017.

In other words, we're talking about Rainbow Six Siege and the like. Those games are being operated as live services, still have high engagement and spend.
Those games are generating a huge amount despite being 1,2,3 or even 4 years old.

That's why everyone is moving to GaaS.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I believe that user was suggesting publishers might push for backwards compatibility from the start of next-gen so that they don't have to port their games. Destiny 2 (PS4) will work immediately on PS5 and vice versa with Xbox 'Two', but still behave as a 'PS5' title in terms of automatic game improvements owing to the vastly improved hardware, with no input required from the developer.

Imagine on PS5 and Xbox 'Two' if games like Destiny 2, Anthem, GTA5, RDR2, Battlefields, CoDs, Battlefronts, etc. were readily available and still supported. It's a win-win for everyone. Consumers don't have to buy ports of their existing last-gen games, which would be automatically upgraded by superior hardware. Devs/Pubs don't have to spend time and money resources to port their games, can continue to support existing ones, and invest in new titles instead.
 
Derrick01

Derrick01

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,289
Khamsinvera said:
We only have ourselves to blame for that crazy increase in microtransactions revs
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If you mean people in general then yeah I blame them too. I've never bought a MT/loot box and never ever will, but yes I always put more blame into the gaming crowd than publishers. You can't blame a soul-less money sucking corporation for doing what they do. If people would just exercise an ounce of self control this stuff wouldn't work and the publishers would have to try something else.
 

Quentyn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3
They just said on the call that Origins sales are at 35% digital up from 15% for Syndicate.

South Park is at 50% digital.
 
Nintendo

Nintendo

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
13,382
Vashetti said:
I believe that user was suggesting publishers might push for backwards compatibility from the start of next-gen so that they don't have to port their games. Destiny 2 (PS4) will work immediately on PS5 and vice versa with Xbox 'Two', but still behave as a 'PS5' title in terms of automatic game improvements owing to the vastly improved hardware, with no input required from the developer.

Imagine on PS5 and Xbox 'Two' if games like Destiny 2, Anthem, GTA5, RDR2, Battlefields, CoDs, Battlefronts, etc. were readily available and still supported. It's a win-win for everyone. Consumers don't have to buy ports of their existing last-gen games, which would be automatically upgraded by superior hardware. Devs/Pubs don't have to spend time and money resources to port their games, can continue to support existing ones, and invest in new titles instead.
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Publishers would rather spend money to port their games to make us double dip though.
 
Funny Valentine

Funny Valentine

Banned
Nov 1, 2017
2,904
Benji said:
Indeed. Physical copies will not be obsolete for a long time still. Especially with data caps. At some point the digital adoption rate will level off. Where that is, who knows. But yes as you said dedicated gaming stores ala GameStop face very serious long term issues and will be forced to drastically change and evolve their business model if they plan to remain a healthy business.
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I don't mind shopping at Gamestop but they seem incapable of figuring out how to stay modern and competitive in a changing marketplace. Their reputation among core gamers and abysmal employment practices does not help them either.
 
Vashetti

Vashetti

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,553
Nintendo said:
Publishers would rather spend money to port their games to make us double dip though.
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But they make more money from microtransactions and DLC as shown in the stats above. Porting, whilst cheaper than developing a brand new title, is still cost prohibitive when the existing title could still run on new console hardware, and they could continue to earn revenue off it by DLC sales.
 

cnc

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-US/company/investor_center/earnings_sales.aspx
First Half Results:
First half sales up 65.7% to €466.2 million
- Digital Revenue was up 69.1% to €342.6 million (73.5% of total sales)
- Back-catalog sales up 47.9% to €379.4million (81.4% of total sales)

Fiscal Year Plan:
Digital: > 50% of total rev.
Back Catalog: > 40% of total rev.

The digital share and back-catalog share are currently a lot higher than 50%, but both are expected to come down as we head into the busy 3rd quarter.
 
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Khamsinvera

Khamsinvera

Member
Oct 31, 2017
1,580
Derrick01 said:
If you mean people in general then yeah I blame them too. I've never bought a MT/loot box and never ever will, but yes I always put more blame into the gaming crowd than publishers. You can't blame a soul-less money sucking corporation for doing what they do. If people would just exercise an ounce of self control this stuff wouldn't work and the publishers would have to try something else.
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Yup, corporations are in to make money. It's their fiduciary duty to maximize shareholder value. This is a 100% self inflicted wound.
 
EkStatiC

EkStatiC

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,243
Greece
All these great increased revenues are essentialy the result of the publishers cuttting the margin of the retailers stores because now they can sell directly to customers through their stores and correct me if i am wrong but i think that ubi is the last of the big players to make this shift to digital so all the profits are justifiend.

What will happen in one or two years when they all earn almost all of their revenues come from digital without further expand?
Some new model or it will be the moment that the king will see that he is naked?
 
Bán

Bán

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,307
We're now at the stage where the original vision for the XB1 starts to maybe be acceptable to the market at large, huh? I mean they were 5 years early with that stuff, but we're getting there.

I think it would be a good idea to have two SKUs of the next consoles (say PS5). One smaller one that costs less without a disc drive. The actual cost to build it wouldn't be that much cheaper, but it would essentially be subsidised by the fact that all games purchased on it would be digital, and thus at a higher price and with no retailer cut etc.

I'd go for a disc-drive-free console.
 
shimon

shimon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,581
Ubisoft is doing good,nice. Digital is definitely gaining momentum this last couple of months. Wonder what data will we have at the end of 2018?
 

Deleted member 62

Guest
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Almost 40% of their revenues came from DLC/season passes/loot boxes. That goes on to show why all the big publishers are moving in to that direction, and why there's the sentiment that Western publishers are moving away from big single player games.
 
Kill3r7

Kill3r7

Member
Oct 25, 2017
24,424
Ubi is absolutely killing it this year. Three major hits for them. Plus more R6S support.
 
Derrick01

Derrick01

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,289
ApeEscape4Knack said:
I don't see much people like people on these forums buy MT's from Ubi but the more casual console gamer perhaps
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Have you seen an overwatch or destiny thread? All they talk about is skins or emotes or other things that come from lootboxes. It'd be extremely naive to believe none of them ever buy them considering the amount of talk there is on that junk. The people who think they're hardcore are usually just as much of the problem as casuals when it comes to this lootbox plague and speaking solely about Ubi they have one of the biggest GaaS games out there now with R6 Siege, which is very popular even on here.

Ghost Recon is probably big too but I still have never actually seen anyone play or talk about that game. That's the most successful game maybe ever that people could forget it even came out because no one plays it.
 
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