Both digital and back catalog sales are on the up for Ubisoft according to the most recent financial report the company released detailing the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.
Digital, in particular, made up a solid 50 percent of sales from the last year, up from just 32 percent the year before, to bring in a total of €729.3 million (~$808.3 million) in revenue.
Likewise, sales of older Ubisoft titles also saw a jump during the 2016-17 fiscal year as back catalog titles made up 44.5 percent of the company’s total sales and bringing in €649.2 million (~$719.6 million) revenue in the process, up 25.7 percent from the 2015-16 year.
Additionally, Ubisoft reported a year-over-year increase in both non-IFRS operating income and annual sales. Non-IFRS operating income, which represents operating income minus specific non-operating items, came in at €237.7 million (~$263.5 million) both up 40.7 percent from the preceding year and a new record high for the French company.
Total sales for the company meanwhile came in at €1.5 billion (~$1.6 billion), up from the €1.3 billion (~$1.5 billion) reported the year before.
In a press release, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot noted that Ubisoft’s future will see it focus on building the profitability of its existing titles rather than entirely on new releases. Even so, he says the company has new entries in the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, The Crew, and South Park franchises coming this year.
For the 2018-19 fiscal year, Ubisoft expects to see sales come in at around €2.1 billion (~$2.3 billion), with 55 percent of that represented by digital revenue. Currently it has four triple-A releases planned for this fiscal year, and it expects those to move around 28 million units by March 31, 2018. Meanwhile, Ubisoft expects to see a continued growth in back catalog sales by this time next year, driven in part by its newly adopted focus on a recurring business model.