Ubisoft confirm new Assassin’s Creed and 37 million half year loss

Ubisoft today released their 6 month trading reports and it makes for some pretty depressing reading overall, and unfortunately they’re not bucking the loss making trend that most gaming companies are reporting this year. Whilst the first half of the 2011-2012 year has had several high profile releases, the operating loss is significant but the forecast is to get better.

So as the above graph shows, Ubisoft are shedding money by the bucket-load, with a loss for the the first 6 months of €37 million, which whilst considerably better than last year, isn’t still isn’t a healthy place to be.

First-half sales have come in around 30% higher than our initial targets. This performance reflects: a 85% growth in our Online segment; a solid showing by our back catalog, driven by Just Dance, Michael Jackson The Experience and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, which confirms players’ enthusiasm for these flagship brands; and better-than-expected sales for Driver San Francisco, boosted by very good reviews. Our strong sales figure drove another sharp increase in gross profit and enhanced our earnings performance.

According to Yves Guillemot, the CEO of Ubisoft.

However, Sales are up, R&D is down and overall the picture from the Ubisoft camp isn’t looking too grim. Ubisoft have also confirmed that their full year target is forecasted at an operating income of between 40-60 million.

Importantly, it’s also been confirmed that a currently untitled Assassin’s Creed game is in development and will be released next year. More information is going to be drip fed to us over the coming months to keep hype at a premium, but they will be ensuring that the quality remains high as it’s something that’s key to the franchise.