Ubisoft 2003 Annual Report Download - page 17

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Sources: US: NPD, France: GFK, UK: Chart-Track – Dec. 2003
Sources: Official console manufacturer announcements - May 2004
Source : IDG
Market
03
ANNUAL REPORT 2004 17
› Franchising:
A Prominent Role
Brands play a prominent role in the industry.
The sector has seen significant brand consolidation,
particularly an increase in the number of sequels and
licensed games. The following sales figures make this trend
clear: in 2003, among the top 20 PlayStation®2 and Xbox®
games, only three products were original creations*.
A huge popular success, Ubisoft's Tom Clancy is rapidly
becoming the number one franchise on Xbox®in the U.S.,
Great Britain and France*. As of March 2004, 26 million
Tom Clancy games have been sold worldwide. Tom Clancy’s
Splinter Cell®Pandora Tomorrow, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow
Six®3, and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon®Island Thunder/
Jungle Storm were the three Tom Clancy brands that
dominated the market segment for the fiscal year 2003/04.
› Continued Online
Growth
Another strong overall industry trend is the continued
growth of online gaming, with players spending more and
more time online. This has resulted in a sharp rise in
traffic on the ubi.com portal, which had a peak of 4.5
million unique visitors in March 2004, versus three
million in March 2003.
Online consoles, in particular, have seen a signifi-
cant increase in popularity, with over two and a half
million Xbox®and PlayStation®2 subscribers world-
wide**. Ubisoft has invested substantially in the market
and is now one of the big players in the field. Many
products in its catalog integrate online features and are
registering increasing success: in February 2004,
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six®3ranked among the most
popular titles on Xbox Live™***, which had at that time
750,000 subscribers in 19 different countries.
› A New Area
for Expansion: Portable
Consoles
With the release of Nintendo DS™ (Dual Screen) and
Sony's PSP™ (Sony’s PlayStation®Portable) slated for
2004/early 2005, the portable console market is spear-
heading a new growth sector. Ubisoft is actively preparing
for the arrival of these new consoles, and already has
several projects near completion at its studios.
*
**
***