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Ubisoft Q1 2015 financials; 56% revenue from digital sales
- Thread starter MauroNL
- Start date
serversurfer
Member
What are you guys talking about? In 2013, they said PC was 20% of their sales. When they looked back at 2013 from 2014, PC had changed to 27%. PS3 and XB2 changed as well.
That's what it says, right? Am I reading it wrong? =/
That's what it says, right? Am I reading it wrong? =/
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
No, that's what it says, but the discrepancy comes from "other" ending up being 5% instead of the 16% they originally stated.
Without knowing precisely what "other" consists of, there's no way of knowing why that change occurred.
For example, if they were licencing Assassins Creed as a boardgame to an external manufacturer who had sold 100 million copies of the board game, they would declare x% of those units sold as revenue due to expected licencee income.
If that boardgame company suddenly went into liquidation and they were a low priority creditor, they might not end up getting any of those due royalties, and have to adjust later earnings reports accordingly.
lowhighkang_LHK
Member
Actually the digital space on PSN is changing that. Consider I just picked up Arkham Origins and DMC HD collection on PSN for 8 bucks a peice. Consoles through their digital store can now offer competitive bargain prices. The more popular the digital store becomes the more frequently we'll be seeing these flash sales.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Right now though digital PSN flash sales are selling products that don't actually work on anything other than legacy hardware.
serversurfer
Member
Okay, but their sales weren't adjusted. In 2013, they said they had €76M in sales that quarter, and PC represented 20% of that €76M, or €15.2M. In 2014, they again said they earned €76M back in Q1FY2013-2014, but PC was suddenly 27% of that, or €20.5M; an adjustment of more than €5M. PS3 went from 23% to 25%. XB2 went from 23% to 27%.
Yes, Others went from 16% to 5%, and it seems like all of that adjustment and then some went in to PC, XB2, and PS3. Why? What they initially thought was €5M in iOS sales turned out to be an additional €5M PC sales instead?? How does something like that happen, and why would they retroactively change the 2013 results without even commenting on it?
Edit: Actually, Others should've grown, as stuff like the DS and the PSP got rolled in to it for the 2014 report. Instead, Others shrank dramatically, and PC, XB2, and PS3 all grew without explanation.
MrNyarlathotep
Banned
Nobody who isn't an accountant at ubisoft can tell you.
It could literally be almost anything.
It could be that DLC revenue was counted separately to software revenue, and as DLC becomes a more important revenue stream they changed their reporting practices to tie it directly to software sales.
It could be Sony and MS refunding certification fees, marketing costs and platform royalties in exchange for hardware bundling.
It could be someone in the accounting division thought Ghost Recon Phantoms was an IOS game not a PC F2P title, and put it in the wrong column by mistake.
Nobody here knows, and if anyone here does know they can't tell you.
Graphics Horse
Member
Banned? what happen
You mean the Vita and the 3DS or are they listed somewhere? I don't know what they release on those any more.
You mean the Vita and the 3DS or are they listed somewhere? I don't know what they release on those any more.
serversurfer
Member
I was wondering the same.
No, in 2013, they split out the DS and the PSP, and each had 1% of their sales. Then in 2014, they didn't split those platforms out, so presumably they should've been rolled in to Other, taking it from 16% to 18%. But instead of being 18%, for some reason Other is only 5%, and PC, XB2, and PS3 have grown by a total of 13%; exactly the same amount that Other seems to have shrunk.
I'm also really confused. I recognize MrNyarlathotep as a great poster so I looked through his recent post history, and everything there seems better than 90% of the posts on GAF
Either the post which was the reason was deleted completely (it happens), or he asked for a ban (this has also happened before), or I missed something.
If I had to guess i would say it was this
Which was an incorrect statement that probably came across like a bad troll post. There have been ubisoft PS4 games in those sales and so that post comes across badly.
That or his avatar looked shifty in that hat and jacket. I'd ban him too for looking like that. If watch_dogs has taught me anything it's that people in coats like that are up to no good. ;P
Which was an incorrect statement that probably came across like a bad troll post. There have been ubisoft PS4 games in those sales and so that post comes across badly.
That or his avatar looked shifty in that hat and jacket. I'd ban him too for looking like that. If watch_dogs has taught me anything it's that people in coats like that are up to no good. ;P
serversurfer
Member
Hey, I may have figured out what you actually meant, and/or what actually happened. If you substitute "platform" for "software" in the above quote, that would make a lot of sense.
So what probably happened was, they used to lump all DLC regardless of platform under Other sales, but at some point, they decided to start grouping it with the full-game sales of the platform on which the DLC in question was sold. That would explain why PC, XB2, and PS3 collectively grew by the amount that Other shrank.
Mystery (probably) solved.