Assassin's Creed Unity and Rogue Sold "Very Well"

[Fanghawk]

Assassin's Creed Unity and Rogue Sold "Very Well"

Financially speaking, 2014 looks like a great year for Ubisoft, with Assassin's Creed Unity and Rogue taking the lion's share of sales.

2014 was an ambitious year for Ubisoft, thanks to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/12659-Assassin-s-Creed-Rogue-Review>two Assassin's Creed releases and a bigger push into next-generation consoles. Unfortunately, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/columns/criticalintel/12676-The-Good-and-Bad-of-Assassin-s-Creed-Unity>any good features Assassin's Creed offered that year were drowned out by game-breaking bugs, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139120-Ubisoft-Assassins-Creed-Unity-Patch-4-is-40-GB>confusingly huge patches, and other problems culminating in <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138805-Assassins-Creed-Unitys-Season-Pass-Cancelled>a cancelled season pass. But despite those issues, Ubisoft's performance was far better than expected. In fact, Assassin's Creed Unity and Rogue had sold a combined 10 million copies by the end of Q3 2014.

These figures were revealed in yesterday's <a href=https://www.ubisoftgroup.com/comsite_common/en-US/images/pressrelease_downloadablemm_20150212_050959_ubisoftq3fy15englishfinaltcm99193930.pdf>Q3 financial report, where Ubisoft showed noticeable improvement from 2013-2014. Compared to last year total sales increased by 55.8 percent, with Assassin's Creed being one of the best performers. While we don't have specific figures comparing Unity and Rogue, it's still an impressive number.

For context, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag earned 11 million sales by year end 2013. That gives Unity and Rogue another five months to catch up, which is certainly a strong possibility. Meanwhile, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/12656-Far-Cry-4-Review>Far Cry 4 sold 7 million copies while <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/editorials/reviews/11504-Watch-Dogs-Review-No-Hack-Job>Watch Dogs has brought in another 10 million since May.

"In 2014, Ubisoft offered gamers the most diversified line-up in the industry," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot wrote in the report. "This uniquely varied offering was also recognized for its overall quality. As a result we achieved a third-quarter performance that was well above target and we expect to generate a record level of free cash flow for 2014-15 ... Each of these successful games was developed by our in-house studios and we own our brands, which means that our destiny is in our own hands and we are internalizing the value created for our shareholders."

Right now, Ubisoft is working on <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138865-Assassins-Creed-Victory-Coming-in-Fall-2015>Assassin's Creed: Victory, a sequel set in Victorian London that's expected to launch in Fall 2015.

Source: <a href=https://www.ubisoftgroup.com/comsite_common/en-US/images/pressrelease_downloadablemm_20150212_050959_ubisoftq3fy15englishfinaltcm99193930.pdf>Ubisoft Group, via <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-02-13-assassins-creed-unity-and-rogue-shipped-10m-copies>Eurogamer

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[martyrdrebel27]

of course they sold well, everyone was still high off the awesomeness that was Black Flag and assumed they'd get more of the same.

it will be the next game where they see how much damage they've actually done to the franchise. i know, as someone who played every AC game leading up to this point, i will not be buying Unity or Rogue, and whatever the next game is, it's not even on my radar. it's gonna have to be a critical smash hit for me to consider.

 

[Erttheking]

Why the hell are they combining the sales? What were the separate sales for the games?

 

[Sigmund Av Volsung]

Probably cause people went out and bought Rogue after seeing what Unity was.

I mean, it took two Assassin's Creed games to get to 10 million, whereas Black Flag got to 11 million by itself, in a shorter amount of time. Also, didn't Ubi's stocks take a dive on Unity's release? If it weren't for Watch_Dogs(since The Crew got a lukewarm reception) then I doubt this year would be considered good for Ubi.

 

[Scorpid]

This just tells me people need to learn to not buy bad games. With the exception of Far Cry 4 which apparently was just fine if you are looking for Farcry 3 but in the Himalayas their games quality was complete trash.

 

[Trishbot]

Unity selling "well" is not good news.

Granted, people bought it expecting it to be as good as the surprisingly awesome ACIV... Which is the same reason/mistake I made when I bought RE5 because RE4 was good.

 

[Sean Kay]

I'm not surprised it sold well, it was an AC first off, and following off the heels of the fantastic Black Flag.
The really interesting statistic would be how many people returned Unity. I wonder if it might finally beat Zone of the Enders 2 for 'most returned game of all time'

 

[fix-the-spade]

Why the hell are they combining the sales? What were the separate sales for the games?

Because shareholders like to hear ten million more than they like to hear five and a half and four and a half million, even though it's the same thing.

Regardless, that and the success of Watchdogs really does irk me, Ubisoft are gaming's current crown bollocks merchants and they still walk away with seven figure sales.

 

[Rush Syks]

Why the hell are they combining the sales? What were the separate sales for the games?

Well to be fair, Black Flag was available on both last and current gen consoles. Since the now current gen does not have quite the install base, games cannot hope to achieve the same sales numbers, even if they would be perfect (which they aren't). So they combined the generations again to get a comparable base. Sales per platform would be interesting, seeing if Unity sold the same numbers that Blackflag sold on PS4 and Xbox One and PC. Than we could compare.

 

[Vivi22]

"This uniquely varied offering was also recognized for its overall quality.

Now look: I did a business degree. I know that CEO's and marketers lie all the damn time to make themselves look better than they really are. But was he drunk when he said this? Legitimately, he had to be drunk. I can think of no other way, save for the use of some high grade narcotics, he would be able to say that they had an overall quality lineup. It might even technically be true in the sense that they had more games that weren't hideously broken than games that were, but he's still fucking lying through his teeth because he deserves to lose his job for running a company where a game like Assassin's Creed Unity can get pushed out the door in the state it was in just to meet their arbitrary yearly deadline.

 

[K12]

Well as long as you got your money Ubisoft that's all that matters. Arseholes!

Their games were definitely recognised for their quality... in the same that Keith Richards is recognised for his self-control.

 

[Shuu]

A good year financially, but I imagine it was a terrible year in the impact it had on consumer trust.

 

[leffi3]

AC: Towers
FC: Towers
WD: TOWERS
Crw: ttttTOWERS

yeah... that's diversity for ya

 

[Rozalia1]

Not a follower of their work, but I think AC will go down as GOAT when people look back. I admire their indefatigability even if I'm not a fan of their ring/character work.

 

[Metalrocks]

at times i ask my self to get unity but i keep reading these bad things how bad it runs, just stops me from getting it. on steam i saw rough as well but im not sure to get it since unity is so poorly optimized.

and of course the game sold well. ac4 was really amazing that i was hyped for unity as well.

 

[ShermTank7272]

Riddle me this, Ubisoft: How many people RETURNED the game after they bought it? Or if it was digital, how many people uninstalled the game and never played it again?

As some people in this thread have said, these games were mainly riding high off the success of Black Flag, so people thought they'd be good games. I'm willing to bet that sales on the next AC game are going to plummet (much like Revelations did to 3).

 

[Hyperstorm]

I want to know what percentage of those Unity sales were preorders because I think that would tell us everything we need to know really.

I doubt they sold many after the bad press.

 

[Metalrocks]

Riddle me this, Ubisoft: How many people RETURNED the game after they bought it? Or if it was digital, how many people uninstalled the game and never played it again?

As some people in this thread have said, these games were mainly riding high off the success of Black Flag, so people thought they'd be good games. I'm willing to bet that sales on the next AC game are going to plummet (much like Revelations did to 3).

i know i have requested for my money back when i got it from origin few days after release. i asked for my money back and i got it back. no questions asked. yes, EA gave me back my money without a fuss.

 

[Adultism]

Great, this will just prove to ubisoft that its okay for them to release broken and unfinished games because people will still flock to buy the new "Assassins Creed" Game the day it comes out without reading anything about it.