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Ubisoft sales up in Q3, year-end forecast raised
Ubisoft estimates sales reached €650 million ($831M), up 8% from the same period last year, during its third fiscal quarter spanning the holiday months. At the same time, Ubi revised its estimate for the full fiscal year, ending in March, to between €1.05 and €1.08 billion ($1.34-$1.38B), elevating its lower estimate from €1.04 billion. "In continuation of the robust trends recorded for the first half of the fiscal year, Ubisoft reported record-high sales for the Christmas period, exceeding expectations. Against an extremely competitive backdrop," said CEO Yves Guillemot. "Assassin's Creed Revelations posted a solid performance, in line with our forecasts, and Just Dance generated outstanding sales." Since Ubisoft is a French company, which often separate their sales data from profit/loss details, the company will publish its "definitive sales figure for the third quarter" on February 15. By that point, the Just Dance franchise will have sold another several million copies.
Court denies Ubi's request to restrain Get Up and Dance
Oh, it's the dancing neon people. Which one is this again? Ubisoft's lawyers have learned -- and a judge has confirmed -- that you just can't stop the beat. "Get Up and Dance," a rhythm game and euphoric command from OG International, can sway American customers unimpeded after a Californian court hip-bumped Ubisoft's request for a temporary restraining order. It's published in North America on PS3 and Wii by O-Games. Legal action sprang from Ubisoft's belief that OG's dance game uses on-screen avatars that are a mite too similar to the ones in Just Dance (pictured), the wildly popular franchise that we only write about because of how wildly popular it is. According to MCV, the court was not satisfied with demonstrations that the games are "substantially" similar. Ubisoft is said to be appealing the decision in the hopes of telling OG to Sit Down and Cease Your Gyration. [Update: Crave Entertianment was erroneously listed as the publisher of Get Up and Dance. This has been corrected.]
Just Dance franchise sold a million units during Black Friday week
Holy fu-nky chicken, Ubisoft announced this morning that Just Dance 3 sold 700,000 copies on the Wii and Xbox 360 over six days, between November 20 and 26 of the Black Friday shopathon. The company also stated that Just Dance 3 sales are up 48 percent from those of Just Dance 2, which launched in mid-October of 2010, when compared "year over year to date in the US." Ubisoft also claimed it has 76 percent market share among dance games in 2011. That statistic could be a little messy, since unlike Zumba Fitness and Dance Central, which has one sequel, the Just Dance franchise follows Activision's Guitar Hero model of suffocating saturation. The Just Dance franchise currently includes: Just Dance 3, Just Dance 2, Just Dance, Just Dance Summer Party, Just Dance Kids 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson: The Experience, The Black Eyed Peas Experience and ABBA You Can Dance. All these titles combined sold over one million copies in the US during Black Friday week. The NPD previously stated that dance game sales are up 326 percent over last year.
Just Dance Kids 2 shakes it all about this October
This October, Ubisoft will release Hokey Pokey: The Game for Kinect, PlayStation Move and Wii. Well, officially it'll be called Just Dance Kids 2, but make no mistake: this is an interactive Hokey Pokey simulation, in which motion sensing technology will judge whether you've properly internalized what it's all about. To pad out the high-tech Hokey Pokey, Ubisoft also including Kidz Bop-style covers of pop hits like "Love Me," "Whip My Hair," "Just The Way You Are," TV and movie songs, and other children's standards. The announcement makes a point to mention the inclusion of "the YouTube hit song, 'I Am A Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song).'" We'd never heard of it, but now we have, and we're sorry to be the ones to do this to you. And on the subject of inflicting things on you, how about that Comic Sans UI? How about those South Park fruit icons?%Gallery-131333%
What's this? It's Just Dance 3's latest track list
Ubisoft released an updated track list for Just Dance 3, and ... guys, it's the weirdest thing. Every time we read about Just Dance (and its insane popularity) we feel like we've jumped into an alternate universe, and this one seems even more alternate than usual. You and your friends will be able to dance to Kiss's post-makeup hit "I Was Made for Lovin' You," and the "Just Dance Classical Orchestra's" performance of Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5. Not random enough? How about "What's This" from The Nightmare Before Christmas? Disney must not be doing any music games for a while, to license out one of its songs to a competitor. Stylistically, the track list is all over the place; functionally, it's right past the break.
See Just Dance 3's 'Just Create' and four-player mode
This Just Dance 3 trailer supposedly shows off the "Just Create" mode, which allows players to record custom choreography and challenge offline and online players to match it -- but, in practice, it just turns into more footage of people dancing like idiots. The rest of the trailer is, essentially, the same thing, but still manages to be more impressive: it shows the four-player mode, which puts four dancers on the screen (and in front of the camera) at the same time. Is Just Dance really this groundbreaking? We would not have guessed that.
Rumor: Smurfs Dance Party pics leak
We aren't exactly sure how Metromix got screens of what appears to be the recently outed Smurfs Dance Party game, but here it is (above and after the break). Contacted for comment, a Ubisoft rep told us the Smurf product announcement will come mid-May. The company isn't currently releasing assets for whatever its Smurf game(s) will be. Metromix's product description notes the title is being developed by Land Ho! (We Cheer) and will have players following "Smurf'testants" as they (sigh) "shake their powder blue rumps to songs by the Jackson 5, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry." The site lists a July 26 release date (same as GameFly). And yes, if the screens are accurate, it's definitely another spin-off of Ubisoft's super successful Just Dance franchise. [Thanks, Elliott]
Analysts consider dance genre 'bubble,' Ubisoft says more 'The Experience' games possible
Ubisoft's Just Dance and its successful clones like Michael Jackson: The Experience, along with Harmonix's Dance Central, have established the dance genre as a viable market for milking. Now the industry must play the delicate game of sucking the marrow dry without creating a zombie. Gamasutra hit up go-to industry analysts Michael Pachter and Jesse Divnich for their takes on the sustainability of the genre. Both analysts essentially characterized dance games as part of a bubble that is largely unaffected by critical reception (UK hit Zumba Fitness has a 43 on Metacritic). "In short, yes, the dance category is a bubble," said Divnich, "much like most things in entertainment." That doesn't mean that the bubble is about to burst -- or that the bottle of suds is close to empty. At least, Ubisoft is planning to keep on dipping in. The publisher's Tony Key teased that Michael Jackson: The Experience is "just the first 'The Experience' brand." He added that there's no reason why "another artist can't make a great dance game under 'The Experience brand,'" but didn't pitch any bright ideas. The Smurfs, anyone?
Black Ops, FIFA, Just Dance make UK's Top 10 entertainment products
Guess what, film and music industries? You guys got taken to school in the UK's Top 40 entertainment product rankings, as compiled by trade organization Entertainment Retailers Association. According to the chart, the number one entertainment property in the UK was neither a blockbuster film like Avatar, nor a chart-topping album like Take That's Progress, but rather Call of Duty: Black Ops, which sold over 3.2 million units in the territory last year. Booyah. Two other games, FIFA 11 and Just Dance, made it into the Top 10 -- however, only nine spots on the entire Top 40 chart were occupied by games. We're not sure what that says about the country's media consumption habits, but we are sure that Red Dead Redemption got beaten out by Now That's What I Call Music 77, and that fills our heart with a dull, constant ache.
Just grab a partner for Just Dance 2 DLC
Judging from Ubisoft's earnings, we feel pretty confident in saying that you have a copy of Just Dance 2 in your house. Yes, you. The teeming millions of Just Dancers should be thrilled to know about the new Valentine-themed DLC available on the Wii Shop -- especially as a welcome break from Katy Perry's "Firework." The three new tracks all feature Duet choreography (and, coincidentally, duet vocals!). For 300 Wii Points each, you can download "Why Oh Why" by Love Letter, "Can't Hurry Love" by The Supremes, and "American Boy" by Estelle and Kanye West. We might be a day late alerting you about this holiday-themed DLC, but if we prevented just one person from giving Just Dance 2 DLC as a "romantic" gift, it was worth it.%Gallery-116751%
Dance games made it rain on Ubisoft's holiday quarter
Ubisoft today reported sales figures for its fiscal-year third quarter, which ended December 31, 2010. For the period, the French publisher recorded €600 million ($809 million) in total software sales, up just over 21 percent from the same quarter in 2009 (though factoring in constant exchange rates -- nearly 60 percent of sales were made in North America -- year-over-year growth was closer to 15 percent). In 2010's three-month holiday period alone, Ubisoft shipped a staggering 10.5 million copies of dance titles, which included Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson: The Experience and Dance on Broadway. Additionally, the company claimed an 18 percent market share of the Kinect platform in the US (and 21 percent in Europe), following its push to become the "top third-party publisher" for Microsoft's successful motion-control add-on. Ubisoft put its Kinect game shipments at over 2 million -- "a very nice level of profitability," CEO Yves Guillemot said in an investor call today -- for the fiscal third quarter. Add in all those copies of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Ubisoft outsold its projected quarterly sales total by €80 million ($108 million), bringing its nine-month fiscal 2010-11 year sales up to €861 million ($1.16 billion) -- a marked increase over the €661 million in sales generated during the same period in 2009, and making it a near certainty that the company will return to profitability at the end of its current fiscal year (on March 31, 2011). With a relatively quiet fourth quarter of scheduled releases, however, the publisher anticipates its total fiscal-year sales to reach only €1.02 billion. Still, "cash flow generation is expected to be positive."
Just Dance series sales have combined for an estimated 5 million units in US & UK
Following up on the estimated 2 million combined unit sales of Just Dance 1 and 2 in the UK, as calculated by MCV, we contacted market research firm NPD to see how the series has performed at US retail. According to NPD data, the Wii-exclusive Just Dance and its sequel have already combined to sell approximately 3 million units in the US. These sales revelations may be a surprise to anyone who doesn't religiously follow our weekly UK charts post, but the Just Dance franchise has been a stalwart sales leader all year in the UK, and also, it would seem, in the less frequently tracked US market (we have seen it pop up on the charts over the months). It may not capture headlines, but Ubisoft's dance series has consistently performed at a high level on a platform that's not exactly accommodating toward third parties.
Just Dance 2 track list released, will grow with DLC
Ubisoft is (indirectly) giving us a mid-Gamescom dance party, by releasing the track list for Just Dance 2. And since we can't read the words "Junior Senior - Move Your Feet" without rushing to YouTube, you all get a musical interlude after the break. And also the track list. And also a trailer. In addition to the 44 listed tracks, the press release confirms that we'll be able to Just Download even more music "from an expanding catalogue of new hits using WiiWare." Ubisoft didn't mention price, or how frequently this DLC would arrive. Try not to worry about that while you're listening to that Junior Senior song, though.%Gallery-99783%
Just Dance Kids busts age-appropriate moves in November
The Just Dance franchise takes a graceful leap over the shark with Ubisoft's announcement of Just Dance Kids, the fourth game in the series since its debut last year (or third, if you don't think Dance on Broadway counts). The new game replaces the original's glowing silhouettes with video footage of Real Kids, who are sometimes dressed like chefs for some reason, and who dance along to 40-plus choreographed dances. According to the press release, it'll include "popular hits like 'Holiday,' "Naturally,' and 'One Time,'" which, not coincidentally, are also performed by children. You'll be able to Just Buy the game in November. If you happen to be attending the BlogHer conference in New York this weekend, you'll be able to see it there. %Gallery-98995%
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Just Dance 2
This week's Nintendo Channel update is slathered in Just Dance 2, giving those with an active palette a tasty serving of Ubisoft's follow-up. Not only is there a fun vignette on dancer auditions, but there's also a more filling video showcasing on-going development, behind-the-scenes at Ubisoft. For the rest of this week's content, hit the jump.
Ubisoft fiscal Q1 sales up 94% over last year
Ubisoft has released a preliminary report on its fiscal first quarter, which ended June 30, revealing that software sales totaled €161 million ($207.8M). The company recorded a 94 percent revenue increase over the same period last year thanks to sustained sales of Assassin's Creed 2, Just Dance and Avatar. The company also reported "solid performance" from Splinter Cell: Conviction and shipped 1.9 million units of the game during the quarter. Ubisoft will reveal actual profit (or loss) figures for the quarter at a later date. The company expects sales in the second quarter, which concludes at the end of September, to be flat year-over-year at an estimated €83 million ($107M). The company's Q2 releases are "highlighted" by plans to ship HAWX 2, Racquet Sports and R.U.S.E. -- although the strategy game has been known to live up to its name when it comes to sticking to a release date.
Lego Harry Potter casts 'petrificus totalus' on UK chart toppers
The boy who lived placed a binding curse on the Chart Track's UK all-formats chart last week, sticking Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2 in their present descending order, with Mr. Potter grabbing the golden snitch (and top spot) for the second week in a row. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, available on all the major consoles, premiered at number four last week. Also, the Wii's one singular sensation, Ubisoft's Dance on Broadway, let in the sunshine and basked with a sixth place premiere. Of course, perennial favorite Just Dance was ballroom dancing with its Broadway partner in the seventh spot. Find the complete UK top ten after the break.
Just Dance 2 making moves on Wii this fall
Amid the various parties and sword-swinging antics at this morning's Nintendo E3 2010 press conference, a sequel to the wildly popular Just Dance was announced as heading "exclusively to Wii" in fall 2010. Duets, a "Just Sweat" mode, some sort of approximation of bringing it in "dance crew face-offs," and support for "up to 8 players" will be packed into Just Dance 2. Are you ready to "join the movement?" Yeah, we're not sure we are either, but we get the feeling that those millions of people who bought the first just might be.
Red Dead Redemption holds Mario from top spot on UK charts
Red Dead Redemption sales may have dropped 34 percent in the UK last week, but the Western beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the charts and continues riding high for a fourth week in a row. Meanwhile, with focus turning to the real World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa slipped on the field to the third spot. Now for a little bit of weirdness: Rooms: The Main Building surged the charts from 12 to the fourth spot. Oh yeah, and Just Dance is still cha-cha-ing along at fifth. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Michael Jackson game being developed by Ubisoft
How does Ubisoft follow up on its multi-million unit selling Just Dance? By making an "interactive performance-based" game about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The E3 presentation featured a few dancers on stage moving in front of a Kinect camera. However, other than a short musical number and a logo, Ubisoft hasn't presented much else (not that it'll stop hardcore fans from pre-ordering the game now). We first heard of a possible deal for a Michael Jackson game last year. The original concept promised "recent voice recordings by the singer." It's unclear if Ubisoft's game is the same project, but it will feature classics, like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." According to a press release, fans will be able to not just dance, but sing along as well. In spite of not being shown at the press conference in any playable form, Ubisoft's Michael Jackson game will be available for Kinect for Xbox 360, PlayStation Move for PS3, PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS. %Gallery-95223%
