Ubisoft Beats Q3 Sales Forecast, New Assassin's Creed Coming Next Fiscal Year

French publisher Ubisoft said Monday it beat sales forecasts for its third fiscal quarter, thanks to strong sales of dancing games and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. During the quarter ended December 31, 2010, Ubisoft said it shipped over 6.5 million units of November's multiplatform action game Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said in a Monday earnings call that Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is doing better in terms of revenue compared to last year's Assassin's Creed revenues, but unit sell-through to consumers will be about the same by the end of the fiscal year. 2009 year saw Assassin's Creed release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, as well as lower-priced versions on handhelds. 2010 did not see Assassin's Creed launch on handheld devices, Ubisoft execs pointed out, which explains lower unit sales yet comparable dollar sales. Guillemot also confirmed that it would be releasing a retail packaged Assassin's Creed entry in fiscal 2012, which ends in March 2012. The game is not the announced 3DS title Assassin's Creed: Lost Legacy. More details on the title, slated for release this calendar year, will be announced in May. Total unit sales of Ubisoft dance games, including Just Dance, Just Dance 2, Just Dance Kids, Michael Jackson: The Experience and Dance on Broadway were over 10.5 million units during the quarter. Guillemot said the dancing game genre should be sustainable for up to the next five years. "What we see is consumers want more and more songs so that they can play the experience more and more," he said. "We don't see yet a limit of what they can take from this genre," Guillemot added. "There's a good chance this dancing segment will be very strong during four or five years." The dancing games and Assassin's Creed drove Ubisoft Q3 sales to 600 million euros ($809.6 million), up 21 percent over the same quarter a year ago. Sales during the quarter beat corporate guidance of around 520 million euros ($701.7 million). Total sales in the first nine months of Ubisoft's fiscal year were 861 million euros ($1.2 billion), up 30 percent year-on-year. Sales for fiscal Q4 ending in March are expected to be around 159 million euros ($214.6 million), about 24 percent lower than the same period a year ago due a light release schedule that includes Assassin's Creed Brotherhood for PC, six 3DS titles and Beyond Good & Evil for Xbox Live Arcade.