Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs, the in-depth hacker cyberpunk game, has shipped over eight million copies in just two months. In just the first week, 4 million copies shipped, making it the “best-selling new franchise launch in history” according to IGN.com. Now, Ubisoft claims to have shipped over 8 million copies total.
According to Forbes.com, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said “Watch Dogs is now well positioned as a major franchise and [Ubisoft] will be able to replicate and build on its success in the coming years.” He goes on to explain how Ubisoft keeps up with next-generation consoles, such as the XBox One and PS4, and is able to produce great games like Watch Dogs as a result.
According to GameSpot.com, Guillemot said:
“[Watch Dogs’] sales performance testifies to Ubisoft’s expertise as a creator of blockbuster brands. That expertise enables us to stand out from our competitors at the beginning of each console cycle and therefore to reach a new dimension.”
In other words, Ubisoft is like the Twilight Zone of gaming, with Guillemot as the Rod Serling poster child.
Sales have been so good that Ubisoft said sales have exceeded their expectations for the first quarter of this fiscal year, and have dramatically increased in comparison to last year. According to IGN.com, Ubisoft made $103 million last year in the first quarter, and have made $490 million this first quarter alone (thanks not only to Watch Dogs, but also to their free-to-play mobile games and others, like Trials Fusion).
Most of it came from console sales, but a decent percentage – between 10% and 14% – went to digital sales and PC sales. Of course with popularity comes replayability and downloadable content. Of course with popularity comes replay ability and downloadable content.
According to Daily Star, Guillemot believes that Watch Dogs will still be a popular game to play for the next five years, at least. “Because after [the arrival of new consoles], you have five or ten years with those brands – even 15 years for some of them.” With big titles like Far Cry 4, coming out in November, and Assassin’s Creed: Unity, coming out in October, who knows what else is in store for Ubisoft this fiscal year or the years to come?
