The beta did exceedingly well
Ubisoft released its most recent earnings report this morning. As is customary during those sort of things, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot talked to investors about the company’s past and predicted its future.Tom Clancy’s The Divisionwill evidently play quite the role in the publisher’s future.
In thefinancial statement, Guillemot said “The Division… is set to be one of the largest launches of a new brand in the history of the video game industry.” Guillemot also confirmed that the closed beta that recently ended “exceeded all of our expectations.”
It’s unclear by what metric Guillemot anticipatesThe Divisionwill see that level of success. Units shipped, units sold, pre-orders, and active player base are a few separate ones that, while correlated, mean different things.
Undoubtedly, the one that matters most to Ubisoft is the one that bolsters its bottom line. BetweenThe Division,Far Cry Primal, and the first DLC pack forRainbow Six Siege, Ubisoft expects to see almost $670 million in sales. Surely, a good chunk of that will be fromThe Division. For comparison’s sake, Ubisoft had sales of $192.6 million during the same period last year.
Admittedly, Guillemot’s statement sounds kind of hyperbolic right now — a marketing tactic meant to trigger the “me too!” part of our brains. But, there’s clearly data to back it up; he said it to investors, after all. Regardless, it seems as if Ubisoft has peggedThe Divisionto be a success before it even launches.Move over,Watch Dogs. There’s likely to be a new king soon.
