Wii gives Ubisoft strong growth

paul · **Joined:** Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:43 pm **Posts:** 551

There has been a lot of carping, by many in the traditional computer games press, and some game publishers, that it is hard to make money creating games for the Wii unless you are Nintendo.

Well, it would appear the at least one publisher, the French UbiSoft, responsible for the Raving Rabbids franchise, and My Fitness Coach, would disagree. They have reported a year on year sales growth of 18%, attributing much of it to casual games for the Wii.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated:

Quote:

In a highly competitive environment Ubisoft reported full-year sales growth of 18 per cent at constant exchange rates in 2008-09 as well as the second best profitability among comparable companies in its industry.

In addition to strengthening our existing franchises – particularly Far Cry and Rayman Raving Rabbids, whose sales were up by more than 50 per cent on their previous performances – we successfully launched two new million-unit-selling brands with Shaun White and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X, confirming our entry into the sports segment and bolstering our position in the air combat segment.

Lastly, we affirmed our expertise in titles for Nintendo consoles, with our casual games business posting a growth over 40 per cent. In 2008-09, we also continued to invest heavily in Ubisoft’s future potential, hiring some 1,300 talents for our studios with a view to driving the Company’s expansion, further strengthening our franchises and preparing for the next generation of handheld as well as home consoles.

This rather puts the lie to the idea that 3rd party Wii games can't be a success. Ubisoft have shown that if you create good games for the Wii, there is a huge market to tap. But if you create rubbish games, people won't buy them.