Ubisoft get upto $1.5B in royalties & New Splinter Cell on thw Way.

Ubisoft continues to navigate the hostile global economic environment with aplomb. Reporting its full-year financial results today, the publisher said revenues for the 12-month period ended March 31, 2009, reached €1.05 billion ($1.50 billion). The sales figure represents a healthy 14 percent (18.4 percent at constant exchange rates) climb over its previous fiscal year's €928 million ($1.3 billion) haul. Ubisoft also said that its cash position now stands at €155 million ($220 million).

Unfortunately, as is typical for the French publisher, Ubisoft did not reveal its take in profit for the period. However, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot did indicate that the company's margins were among the best in the industry, saying in a statement, "In a highly competitive environment, Ubisoft reported full-year sales growth of 18 percent at constant exchange rates in 2008-09 as well as the second best profitability among comparable companies in its industry."
Guillemot trumpeted a number of other wins for the publisher during the year, as well. Sales for Ubisoft's Far Cry and Rayman Raving Rabbids franchises were up 50 percent during the period. The publisher's casual label also experienced significant growth, with Guillemot saying that the segment was up 40 percent on the strength of titles for Nintendo's platforms. The executive also noted that Ubisoft hired 1,300 employees during the year, having opened up new studios in Kiev, Ukraine, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well as making a number of acquisitions throughout the year.
While full-year sales were up, Ubisoft did see a dip in sales during its post-holiday quarter. For the January-March period, revenues slid 5.1 percent (2.3 percent at constant exchange rates) to €206 million ($292 million), a figure which fell in line with investor guidance. Top performers for the period included Tom Clancy's HAWX, which Ubisoft said achieved its 1 million shipped target, as well as "strong showings" from Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip for the Wii.
Ubisoft also laid out its financial targets for the coming fiscal year. Though the publisher expects to launch Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 as well as a number of casual titles during its in-progress March-June quarter, Ubisoft said revenues should dive 44 percent to €95 million ($134 million).
However, the publisher still projects to see some growth over its full fiscal year ending March 31, 2010, thanks to second-half sales projected to rise 23 percent year-over-year. In total, sales for the 12-month period are expected to hit €1.1 billion ($1.56 billion). The publisher expects to see productivity from its franchise titles Assassin's Creed 2, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, Ghost Recon 4, and Dawn of Discovery. Licensed titles expected to launch during the period include James Cameron's Avatar, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Arthur and the Invisibles.
As part of a post-earnings conference call, Guillemot confirmed that the Shaun White franchise has sold 3 million units on all platforms. "You can expect more Shaun White in the future," the executive said.

Killzone 2 Sells 200,000 in UK

Whilst no PS3 titles have sold over a million in the UK alone yet, which is a dissapointment. FIFA 09 might be the best selling UK PlayStation 3 title in the charts with over 600,000 units shifted according to figures released by ELSPA today, but exclusives like Metal Gear Solid 4 (selling over 300,000) and Killzone 2 (over 200,000 sold) still impress. A little further down the chart, looking at games that have sold over 100,000 copies, are Resident Evil 5, Street Fighter 4 and SingStar.

Bad Company 2 New Details & Screens

Good news. Haggard, Preston, Redford and Sweetwater all return this winter! Back behind enemy lines and in even deeper trouble than before.

The sequel was shown behind-closed doors at GDC (Game Developers Conference) in San Francisco, where developer DICE demoed a section of the game based in a snowbound Alaskan Village.

The Frostbite engine will return, abling more destruction than ever. The level demonstrated sees you battling some Russians occupying the area whilst they are loading barrells onto a truck. The order came through to annihilate them, which the team did by firing at some explosive barrells, destroying machine gun emplacements with grenade launchers, and edging forward through the village using wooden crates as cover. The highlight of the level was at the end when 'B' Company are in a truck being chased first by ATV's and then a dogged attack helicopter. The truck then enters an overpass, and still the helicopter tries to follow them into the overpass. You then hear a loud bang and see a ball of flames coming towards you.

As with the first game, you still need to use every weapon and vehicle you have at your disposal in order to survive. There are even more vehicles to use from, which carries over into the the multiplayer Gold Rush and Conquest game types aswell as new Co-op mode.

It was a little odd how the prequel never had co-op mode, despite the game being based around a square of core characters. We can also confirm that the multiplayer will allow 40 player matches.

It's going to be well worth the wait for it's release in mid 2010.

Uncharted 2 Interview, Evan Wells sets it Straight

PSW Magazine recently had an interview with Naughty-Dog's Co-President Evan Wells, the interview has not been published online, so we thought we'd bring it to you.

PSW: What did Drake spend his fortune on? Is he broke or has he become a Lara-style thrill seeker?

Evan Wells: Only two years have passed since the events in Uncharted Drake's Fortune and i think it's clear that Drake is in a very different place than where we left him. He starts off Uncharted 2 a bit 'down on his luck' and he's found himseld lured back into his natural element - a world of thieves and mercenary fortune-hunters

PSW: Will we still like Drake in this game or will you slowly reveal a nastier side to the original character?

Evan Wells: Even though he may look abit rougher around the edges, Drake still retains the personality you've come to know him for. In Uncharted 2, we're tackling some more serious themes, and digging deeper into Drake's character, but he's still the same affable rogue we introduced in the first game. Humour is a critical part of this genre and to the Uncharted franchise - and it's important to us that our game should never take itself to seriously.

PSW: Are you aiming to merge gameplay more for the sequel?

Evan Wells: In Uncharted, Drake was only able to fire his weapon during certain actions or animations. This time out, we're really opening things up by allowing Drake to shoot at any time - including hanging from ledges, crossing balance beams, and even swinging from ropes. We've been calling this concept "traversal gunplay". This frees up our level designers to throw in combat setups anytime and anywhere, even when Drake is negotiating tricky traversal sections that might require some problem solving to overcome.

Here's the important question! Read!

PSW: Will there be any online gameplay or is Uncharted 2 strictly offline this time around?

Evan Wells: We've seen alot of debate from blogs and forums about whether or not we should take the Uncharted frachise online - either via multiplayer or co-op. There are some very compelling aguments on both sides of the fence about adding these extensions to our game. We're always considering ways in which we can improve our games, but only if we can still achieve the level of quality Naughty Dog is known for. For now, our main focus is on Drake as the central character - we want to concentrate the story on his personal journey.

PSW: What kind of Trophies are you aiming for - and will there be some playful challenges?

Evan Wells: Between Trophies and Medals, we have plenty of room to create some interesting and fun ways to get those rewards. For those players who are up to the challenge, we're planning to have a ton of cheats, skins concept art, secrets and video's to unlock, just like in our first game.

Is Uncharted 2 YOUR Most Wanted Game of 2009? Tick your favourite in our Poll on the right.

So what do you think about what Evan Wells said? And what is the effect of the answer about Uncharted 2 Multiplayer?

What is the Greatest FPS Ever?

We will be running a Survey for the next few weeks to find out What is the Greatest FPS Ever? And we want EVERYONE who sees this to vote!

As you can see on the right of your screen you have the options of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Killzone 2, Call of Duty: World At War, Resistance 1 OR 2, The Orange Box or Other. With this poll we hope to find the final answer and we will give the results and post them on www.n4g.com for everyone to see.

Also, there is 3 Days left on our "What Game do you want Most" Poll, so please take 10 seconds of your time to take the poll. Thanks & Leave all comments below.