GRAW Success Helps Ubisoft Shares

Shares in French publisher Ubisoft have risen 4 percent, following the release of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter on the Xbox 360 in North America and Europe, and a subsequent public statement by Ubisoft confirming significant sales for the game. The game has sold more than 240,000 copies in its first week on sale in North America, with sales in France, Germany and the UK put at over 120,000 units in just three days. In reaction to these results, the company’s shares rose by as high as 4.01 percent to €36.61 ($44.57), and ended up closing the day at €36.28 ($44.17), still up over 1 euro and 3 percent on the day. "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter had the best ever first-week sales performance for our company and is looking like a major commercial success," Ubisoft chairman Yves Guillemot said in a statement reported by Reuters. An equally well-reviewed Xbox version of the game is due for release this week, followed by a PlayStation 2 version the week after and an PC version in May, as the company's long-running Tom Clancy-related series continues to perform well. According to Ubisoft-sourced figures circulating on continental European consumer websites, the company estimates that the North America and European installed userbase of the Xbox 360 is currently 1,660,000 units, citing combined data from the U.S. NPD Group, the German GFK entity, and Chart-Track in the UK. Microsoft has not released its own updated figures, but aims to ship between 4.5 and 5.5 million consoles worldwide by June.