Ubisoft 2001 Annual Report Download - page 41

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FINANCIAL REPORT
Financial Year 2001/2002
41
2.7 Recent developments
April 2002
■Worldwide licensing agreement signed with Viacom
Consumer Products to publish games derived from the film
The Sum of All FearsTM, adapted from the well-known novel
by Tom Clancy.
May 2002
■When the Nintendo Gamecube™ console was released in
Europe, Ubi Soft was present with four titles: Star Wars™
Rogue Leader™: Rogue Squadron™ II, Batman™: Vengeance,
Disney's Donald Quack Attack and Disney's TarzanTM Freeride.
■Announcement of an exclusive agreement with Rage
Software covering the publication of games based on the
well-known Rocky film series. The game will be available
for all new-generation consoles, and will be launched in
North America this fall.
■Exclusive licensing agreement signed with MGA Entertainment
to adapt the Bratz dolls for PC and consoles.
■Exclusive agreement signed with Eidos Ltd. for the game
Lara Croft Tomb RaiderTM - The Prophecy, which will be
released for Game Boy®Advance at Christmas.
■Exclusive worldwide contract signed with Cyan Worlds Inc.
to publish and manage Myst®On Line (working title), which
is to be launched in the second half of 2003.
■Major publishing and technical support contract signed
with Sony On Line Entertainment for the game EverQuest®
®.
This agreement will allow localized versions of this game,
one of the most popular massively multiplayer online
games in the world, to be launched in Europe.
June 2002
■Jacques Villeneuve, Ubi Soft and Weg Management gave
a preview of their new video game, Jacques Villeneuve
Racing Vision.
■Opening of a new branch in Seoul, Korea in June 2002. The
Group's aim here is to establish a presence in a rapidly
expanding market. Ubi Soft is now present in 21 countries.
■Ubi Soft and Shanghai Animation Film Studio are to deve-
lop a PC game based on the well-known animated television
series Music Up. The game will be released in China in the
Summer of 2002.
■The Settlers®V, a new episode is currently being develo-
ped at Blue Byte, Ubi Soft's German studio.
■Ubi Soft won several awards in various categories at the E3
(Electronic Entertainment Expo) in Los Angeles:
• Tom Clancy's Splinter CellTM, awards for Best Action/
Adventure Game, Best Game for XboxTM and Best Graphics
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six®: Raven shield™, Best Tactical
Simulation
• Rayman®3: Hoodlum Havoc - Nominated for the cate-
gory Best Platform Game for GameCube™ and Game
Boy®Advance
• IL-2 SturmovikTM: the Forgotten BattlesTM - voted
Best E3 Simulation Game 2002 by Wargamer
July 2002
■Final stage in development of the new edition of Chessmaster®
9000, the internationally renowned chess game for PC.
Worldwide release is scheduled for fall.
August 2002
■Announcement of first-quarter sales: 32 million Euros. In
the first quarter of the 2002-2003 financial year (April -
June), Ubi Soft's consolidated sales came to 32 million
Euros, down 46.8% compared to the same period in the
previous financial year. This significant change is the result
of an important base effect: sales in the first quarter of
2001/2002 were up 162% as a result of the launch of two
major titles, Rayman®Advance and Myst®III: Exile, which
represented 53% of sales for that period; 24 titles were
marketed, compared to 32 the previous year.
September 2002
■Conclusion of a distribution agreement with Microsoft,
covering such major Microsoft titles as Age of Empires®
Gold Edition, Microsoft®Flight Simulator 98, Microsoft®
Combat Flight Simulator 1 and Microsoft®Pandora’s Box.
All of these games will be available in stores this fall. The
agreement covers Europe (with the exception of the
United Kingdom), Canada, Latin America, Australia and
the Asia-Pacific region (with the exception of Korea and
Japan).
■As the creator of one of the most eagerly awaited games
of 2002, Ubi Soft is set to take the lead in the Action/
Infiltration genre, one of the biggest segments of the
video game market. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell™, just
released from the Ubi Soft Montreal development studios,
wins yet another award with its selection as Best Game at
ECTS 2002 – the leading European video game trade show.