Ubisoft 2005 Annual Report Download - page 7

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Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie sold more
than 4.5 million units, while receiving the highest score ever awarded to a
multiplatform game adaptation of a film(2).
Ubisoft pursued its objective of creating new brands, launching the hit title
Blazing Angels™ Squadrons of World War II in March and successfully
introducing our best-selling PC brand Far Cry®to home consoles.
Finally, we stepped up investment in research and development to enable us
to successfully rise to the next-gen console challenge; our total expenditure
on development thereby increased by 37% to €185 million. This strategy
allowed us to take an early lead on the new consoles and also to consolidate
our position as the world’s 2nd largest creative force. With close to 500 new
people recruited for our in-house studios, we grew our production team to
2,800 people in our 14 studios worldwide. At the same time, we reduced our
net debt by 12% to €65 million, strongly reinforcing our future investment
capacities.
Ubisoft will pursue its next-gen investment strategy in 2006-2007. We will continue to
outperform the market thanks to our anticipated investments in the new consoles and
our outstanding line-up of next-generation titles. To begin with, our portfolio includes
five new intellectual properties, two of which notably grabbed the spotlight at this
year’s E3(3). Assassin’s Creed™, winner of the show’s Best Action/Adventure Game(4),
was widely acknowledged as the most exciting title previewed on Sony’s PlayStation®3.
Red Steel™, on the other hand, is the fruit of a close collaboration between Ubisoft and
Nintendo. An exclusive launch title for the Wii™ console, the game received universal
praise for its capacity to take full advantage of the revolutionary new machine.
In addition to these new franchises, eagerly awaited sequels for some of our most
popular brands will further strengthen our portfolio of multi-million unit sellers.
These include Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell®: Double Agent, Brothers in Arms Hell’s
Highway™, Rayman Raving Rabbids™ and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®, voted best
FPS(5) at E3 by IGN.com(6).
>>>
05
UBISOFT • 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
GROUP
“We have risen to the position of 4th independent publisher worldwide(1),
thanks to a 3rd place in Europe and a 5th place in the United States.
“