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Ubisoft beats Q2 projections, reports digital revenue surge
Ubisoft revealed today that it earned 124.1 million euros (approximately $156.6 million) in revenue during the second fiscal quarter of 2014 ending September 30, marking a decrease of nearly 43 percent compared to the €217.7 million ($274.8 million) earned in the same quarter last year. The report beats projected quarterly revenue of €85.0 million, however, and represents a sharp rise in sales for the first half of 2014-15. Ubisoft earned a total of €484.2 million in revenue during the first half of 2014-15, putting it far ahead of the €293.3 million reported during first-half 2013-14. The company attributes its gains to continued sales of Watch Dogs and other flagship releases. "The very strong momentum we saw at the beginning of the fiscal year carried on into the second quarter and enabled us to once again exceed our performance expectations," Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said. "Ubisoft continued to capitalize on the popularity of new consoles, the successful launch of Watch Dogs, the quality of its back catalog and the considerable growth of the digital segment. Consequently, our operating income and cash flows improved significantly during the period." Ubisoft additionally reports a 90.4% increase in digital revenue for the first half of 2014-15, compared to last year's results. The company earned €113.7 million during the period from back-catalog sales, and reports €134.7 million in total digital revenue for first-half 2014-15.Reported sales by platform indicate that Ubisoft earned 21 percent of its quarterly revenue on the PlayStation 4, while Xbox One sales account for 9 percent. PlayStation 3 platform sales pulled in 19 percent, PC revenue clocks in at 17 percent, and Xbox 360 game sales earned 16 percent of Ubisoft's Q2 revenue. [Image: Ubisoft]
Ubisoft's digital sales jump 32% in fiscal 2014
Ubisoft reported digital sales of 195 million euros ($266.6 million) for the financial year ending March 31, 2014. That represents a 32 percent increase over last year's 148 million euros ($202.3 million) in sales for the segment, which includes digitally-distributed games as well as downloadable add-ons and items. Ubisoft specifically called out South Park: The Stick of Truth in its report, which showed "higher-than-expected digital distribution levels." The publisher said the digital segment was a "substantial contributor to our business," and accounted for 19 percent of the company's total sales for the year. Sales for 2014 were down 17 percent year-over-year to 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Ubisoft projects "strong digital growth" for fiscal 2015, expecting the digital segment to amount to 25 percent of the group's total revenues, including its free-to-play efforts for the year, according to the publisher's earnings presentation. [Image: Ubisoft]
Take-Two makes it rain $1 billion more in fiscal 2014
Take-Two reported net revenue of $2.35 billion for fiscal 2014 (the year ending March 31, 2014), a 94 percent growth from its reported revenue of $1.21 billion in 2013. It also reported a net income of $361.7 million, which compares rather favorably to the net loss of $31.2 million it suffered last year. As of the end of fiscal 2014, Take-Two had "cash and cash equivalents of $935.4 million," plenty to make it rain a few times. As for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, Take-Two's net revenue was $195.2 million, a 34.8 percent decrease compared to the same quarter last year ($299.5 million). It also reported a net loss of $30.8 million for the quarter, which compares to the net gain of $21.2 million reported in Q4 2013. The publisher's digitally-delivered revenue increased 65 percent year-over-year to $435.1 million on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). In its earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick noted that Grand Theft Auto Online was the "single largest contributor" to the company's digital revenue growth. Take-Two also reported that it has shipped 33 million copies of GTA 5 to date. Looking ahead to the next fiscal year (ending March 31, 2015), Take-Two projects its non-GAAP net revenue to fall between $1.35 billion and $1.45 billion, and anticipates its net revenue between $120 million and $135 million for the next quarter, also on a non-GAAP basis.
EA's Ultimate Team card sales grew 60% in the last year
Sales for EA's Ultimate Team modes in FIFA, Madden and NHL grew 60 percent year-over-year on a non-GAAP basis (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles), the publisher noted in its 2014 financial earnings report. Additionally, EA said its Ultimate Team services "generated more than $380 million" in fiscal 2014, and that Madden Ultimate Team alone saw a 90 percent year-over-year growth. First debuting for NCAA Football 14 and NBA Live 14 last year, Ultimate Team is a trading card-collecting game mode that's driven EA's digital revenue for a number of years in its other sports games, such as Madden NFL and FIFA. FIFA's digital revenue alone topped $145 million in the first half of the fiscal year, as the publisher revealed in late October. EA reported its fiscal 2014 earnings today, showing a net revenue of $1.12 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, down from $1.21 billion during the fourth quarter last year. [Image: EA Sports]
FIFA's digital revenue tops $145 million in first half of fiscal 2014
EA's FIFA series has generated over $145 million in digital net revenue in the first half of fiscal 2014, a period that stretched from April 1, 2013 through September 30, 2013. The news came from EA's Q2 2014 earnings report, and was derived on a non-GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) basis. EA reported that FIFA's digital revenue saw an increase of 25 percent over the first half of fiscal 2013. The publisher reported $70 million in digital revenue from FIFA 13 in the first quarter of 2013. FIFA 14 launched at the end of September and features legendary soccer players in its popular Ultimate Team mode on Microsoft consoles, which accounts for a chunk of its digital revenue sales.
Activision digital revenue up to $1.7 billion
Just 15 years ago, if you could make a few bucks selling homemade charm bracelets through Prodigy, you were in the vanguard of digital revenue. These days, while the model's still the same, the scale is just a bit different. Take Activision for instance: The company announced during its Analyst Day presentation that it made $1.7 billion in digital revenue over the last 12 months. We're not sure what that works out to in charm bracelets, but it's a lot. Though World of Warcraft has always done huge digital business, the company has gotten a big boost this year from Call of Duty: Black Ops and its hugely popular DLC. As you can see in the chart above, this year's earnings are a big jump from 2010 and 2009, which respectively brought in $1.4 and $1.2 billion digital dollars. Note: When Diablo 3 launches, Blizzard will be taking undetermined fees off the top of player-to-player items sales. So look out for the 2012 Analyst Day when Activision will have to use at least some of the digi-revenue to buy a taller chart.
