UbiSoft sales continuing to boom

UbiSoft is celebrating a massive 72% rise in sales in the six months to September 30th compared to the same period last year. This is largely thanks to the purchase of companies such as Red Storm, TLC and Blue Byte, with Myst III (from TLC) shifting 750,000 copies worldwide and the Rainbow Six franchise (from Red Storm) selling 450,000 units. These acquisitions have also helped UbiSoft to expand into America, with sales on that side of the pond tripling over the last year. The launch of the GameBoy Advance gave the publisher another major boost, with GBA titles making up over a fifth of UbiSoft's sales this year and Rayman Advance alone selling 600,000 copies.

Looking ahead UbiSoft is optimistic that "the video game industry [will] remain dynamic due to the fast growth of the new machine installed base", despite the recent terrorist attacks and America slipping into recession. The company plans to launch over a hundred new games over the next six months, over sixty of them in the run-up to Christmas, including big hitters such as Ghost Recon and Rayman M. Alongside a strong PC line-up, the focus for now is firmly on the GameBoy Advance and PlayStation 2, with 30 titles for each due out by March 31st, while the GameCube and Xbox get only eight between them.