Ubisoft’s financial report had a number of interesting items located inside of it this week. We learned that no new Assassin’s Creed game would be published, Watch Dogs 2 is confirmed and now we know that Xbox One players make the company more money than PlayStation 4 players.
Now, to be fair, this refers to the average amount of money that each player spends on Ubisoft products. According to the report, Xbox One players spend $1.25 to every $1 that PlayStation 4 players spend for a difference of 25%. It is a metric that is used more because it more accurately reflects how players are using a company’s product. For example, if company A had twice as many players as company B, but spends only 30% of the money, then company B is still the better targeting option.
Of course, due to the higher install base of PlayStation 4 players than Xbox One, this means simply that Xbox One players stick around longer and buy more post-launch content than PlayStation 4 players when it comes to Ubisoft’s products. It also means that a higher percentage of Xbox One owners buy Ubisoft products than PlayStation 4 players. The report states that Ubisoft made 41% of its profits from PS4 with only 27% from Xbox One. That amounts to 51.8% more from PS4 overall. That sounds great, but it’s only half the battle. As we know, PlayStation 4 has basically an insurmountable lead in overall console sales over Xbox One. With the most recent reports showing PlayStation 4 consoles sold at about 36 million and Xbox One around 19 million, which is an 89% difference in favor of PlayStation 4. So, with an 89% difference and a profit margin of only 51.8%, it means a higher percentage of Xbox One owners are buying Ubisoft products than PlayStation 4.
It’s an interesting number and of course it alone doesn’t speak to the quality of any one system over another. On the other hand, it reflects how game companies are selling products nowadays. As you may have noticed, game companies like EA have opted for much more post-release content. With season passes in the $40-50 range nowadays, it’s no wonder why they are looking to keep players engaged for longer periods of time.
Source: VentureBeat
Mike is a games journalist, host of 1080Players Gaming Radio. They contributed 62 articles to ICXM between 2015–2016, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: operates 1080Players Gaming Radio on the Boost Radio Network; ICXM published cross-content from his outlet.