It is also a heavy failed to impact on the Group's strategy

A turnover forecast revised downward by 20, accounts that switch in the red... Ubisoft has spent a very bad Christmas. The French publisher of video games which, since its inception in 1986, had been a route almost without fault, reaching the symbolic threshold of the EUR 1 billion in sales in its fiscal year ended in March 2009, has cast a huge last Wednesday. By significantly lowering its forecasts for the current year (turnover reaches EUR 860 million, against 1.04 billion expected earlier), he joined Electronic Arts in the category of publishers to the penalty, in a market that has proved difficult. After the warning sent by Electronic Arts at the beginning of week, Ubisoft was expected at the turn. But the magnitude of the shift between the initial estimates of the Group and that he has really done is the effect of a cold shower.

The underperformance of the Avatar game, which was to be a locomotive for the Publisher on the end of the year, weighed. Sold 2.5 million units, according to Wedbush Morgan Securities firm, while Ubisoft assumed on 3.5 to 4 million, the game, which had attracted criticism conservative at the time of its release, has not benefited the successful global film, who, in France, alone has reached the threshold of the 9 million entries.

Consolation for the group, chaired by Yves Guillemot, Assassin's Creed, another flagship of the end of the year title, held its promises with 6 million copies sold. Ubisoft is the 9 million copies at the close of its fiscal year, end of March.

Refocusing announced

But other elements also explain this warning of Ubisoft. The editor also suffered poor sales of its games for the DS, the Nintendo portable console. The success surprised the game Just Dance has not offset the failures of other titles on the small dual screen console. In total, Ubisoft declined 50, or EUR 160 million in the said segment "casual", namely the games aimed at the widest possible public. A cruel disappointment for Ubisoft, which had built, in part, his success in the years past on the wave "casual" and surging DS in the world. It is also a heavy failed to impact on the Group's strategy. Yves Guillemot to destination its intention to refocus on the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Sony PlayStation3, that is to say to a destination of à à son de se sur la son son de se sur la de se de se sur la sur la sur la yves Guillemot à destination son intention de se recentrer sur la Xbox360 de Microsoft et sur la PlayStation3 de Sony, c' est à dire vers des a destination des à son de se sur la c' à des Yves Guillemot à c' c' à des Yves Guillemot à à à des Yves Guillemot à des Yves Guillemot à à More expensive and more risky financially, these games are also more profitable success.

Ubisoft believes it maps to play. The Group made the finding of a too tough competition on the market of the DS and bet on two machines that are certainly not new on the market, but which are brought to see their Park progress substantially this year. For its Xbox 360, Microsoft will launch the native end, a technology that allows of the classic joystick, via a sign language recognition system.

The financial consequences are painful for Ubisoft: the editor will post a loss of EUR 50 million, while he was on an operating income of EUR 70 million so far. A failover in the Red due course by the decline of sales, business, but by impairment losses in the value of games also the abandonment of projects and postponement of some titles, such as the next opus called "splinter cell". Certainly negative reaction of the stock market has been limited to a withdrawal of 4.49 of the group action yesterday. It is true that the financial community had already widely anticipated announcement, especially since the warning sent by Electronic Arts last Tuesday. The Ubisoft title had already lost more than 10 in the last days.