At 12% of total revenue, digital games are no longer an afterthought at Ubisoft (interview)

Ubisoft, the big French video game publisher that makes games such as Splinter Cell: Blacklist, has been through the ups and downs of several generations of digital games now. It has had to cancel its Ghost Recon Facebook game, but it has had increasing success with digital features of its blockbuster games such as Assassin’s Creed.

Chris Early, the head of digital publishing at Ubisoft, said at a press event that Ubisoft’s digital revenues grew 86 percent in 2012 and now constitute 11.7 percent of total revenue. About a quarter of Ubisoft’s worldwide staff now works on digital titles, and every new console game now comes with a lot more downloadable content or companion apps. On top of that, Early is encouraged that digital versions of games, such as the wacky sci-fi Blood Dragon add-on for Far Cry 3, have become much more creative. Spartacus, a free-to-play downloadable game on the consoles, got more than 4 million users in two months. On the downloadable platforms for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, Ubisoft was the No. 3 publisher.