Ubisoft 2012 Annual Report Download - page 46

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Management Report
2012
41
1.8 RECENT EVENTS, OUTLOOK AND STRATEGY
1.8.1 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Ubisoft has adopted a strategy to develop its brands for both habitual and casual gamers on home
and portable consoles and online media, PCs, smartphones and tablets.
For games for habitual gamers on high-definition consoles and PCs, the Company is focusing
its efforts on its strong franchises, in order to increase the quality and regularity of releases. It
also plans to capitalize on the momentum expected from the future launch of replacements for
the Xbox 360™, PLAYSTATION®3 and Wii™. The brands for habitual gamers are also slated to
be adapted for online media, like the Free to Play model, as in the cases of the successful
Settlers® Online and the 2012 launch of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® Online.
For casual gaming, the Company continues to seize the opportunities offered by the
introduction of new consoles like the Wii U™, the creation of new segments such as Just
Dance® or Rocksmith™ and the development of strong online media brands, like the highly
successful Free to Play game Howrse® from the acquisition of Owlient.
1.8.2 MARKET OUTLOOK
In 2011, the console video games market recorded a drop of 7% in Europe and 7% in North America
(sources: NPD, Chart-Track, GFK, etc.). In this segment, the year 2012 should be slightly down from
2011 due to the continued decline in sales of games on the Wii, partially offset by a slight increase
expected on the PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360™, and the positive effect from the introduction of the
Wii U™. On the other hand, it is anticipated that the online video games market should experience
another year of strong growth, enabling growth overall in the gaming market.