Far Cry 3 sales 'much higher than expected,' franchise to be one of Ubisoft's 'major pillars'

Far Cry 3 was released on December 4th, well after the holiday's heaviest hitters made their debut. Did the strategy work for Ubisoft? Apparently.

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Publishers often save their biggest games for October and November, hoping to capitalize on pre-holiday shopping and Black Friday sales. Rarely does a AAA game come out in December--that's usually a time reserved for games sent out to die. However, Ubisoft made quite a curious move last year. It released Far Cry 3 on December 4, well after the holiday's heaviest hitters made their debut. Did the strategy work for them? Apparently.

According to new figures released by Ubisoft, the game has shipped over 4.5 million units, resulting in "a much higher-than expected performance." Ubisoft pointed out that it was the "highest-rated shooter" of 2012, which likely helped the game get quite a bit of traction. (It ranked #5 on Shacknews' Best of 2012 list.)

The success of Far Cry 3 means that it is now "one of the major pillars of our offering for core gamers." That means we can expect much, much more Far Cry in the future. CEO Yves Guillemot said that "we now have greater visibility in terms of future revenue and profitability for this franchise."

So thanks a lot, Virginia Woolf.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    February 7, 2013 9:45 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Far Cry 3 sales 'much higher than expected,' franchise to be one of Ubisoft's 'major pillars'.

    Far Cry 3 was released on December 4th, well after the holiday's heaviest hitters made their debut. Did the strategy work for Ubisoft? Apparently.

    • reply
      February 7, 2013 9:48 AM

      Oh boy, here comes Far Cry 4: Modern Warfare and Far Cry 5: Zombies both released by Summer of 2013.

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      February 7, 2013 10:06 AM

      Surprise success eey? Commence milking procedure!

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      February 7, 2013 10:07 AM

      Cool, look like 4 is going to happen 100%.

      If 4 will be the same quality as 3 I will instant purchase it right now, great news.

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        February 7, 2013 10:21 AM

        Maybe it will revolve around the fact that by skinning the rabid dogs and getting blood in your eyes, you're almost guaranteed to have rabies and go insane like Cujo... but with guns.

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        February 7, 2013 11:10 AM

        I agree. This game is great. Almost done and I don't want to do the last few missions. I wish there were more battles....

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          February 7, 2013 11:13 AM

          One feature I really wish they would add, is just the ability to replay past missions with my current gear/skills.

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        February 7, 2013 1:21 PM

        Don't kid yourself, you'll buy it even if it's not as good.

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        February 7, 2013 1:33 PM

        It would be great if they moved the setting to New York, and prominently focus on fighting generic aliens.

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          February 8, 2013 4:27 AM

          reminds me of a shitty game i've played about 2 years ago...

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      February 7, 2013 10:07 AM

      Remember all the Far Cry Instincts spinoffs? Yeah, don't do that again, Ubisoft. That went so far as to spawn a turret-sequence arcade game called "Far Cry: Instincts: Paradise Lost".

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      February 7, 2013 10:21 AM

      Good to know that piracy is no longer a concern. I mean what other reason could there be to explain the game's success.

      Also, I work from 8AM-11PM right now, and when I get home, I make sure to play at least a 1/2 hour of this game to help me unwind. Loving it. Skyrim with guns is a decent comparison.

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      February 7, 2013 10:24 AM

      They should make a Prequel telling Vaas's story. I would be all in on that.

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      February 7, 2013 10:48 AM

      Hey Ubisoft...can I change my multiplayer name yet or haven't you caught up to 1994 yet?

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      February 7, 2013 10:59 AM

      If they bring more of the same I am 1000% in. Far Cry 3 was so much fun. I sort of hope they continue with these unrelated stories. I also think it would be cool to continue to mix up the environments. It would be cool to have something other than Islands for far cry 4.

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      February 7, 2013 11:12 AM

      Makes good game, earns money shocker.

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        February 7, 2013 11:37 AM

        makes bad game.... it was piracy. Go figure.

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        February 7, 2013 12:31 PM

        the hype factor worked too. they were smart to sell the Vaas character early in the marketing

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      February 7, 2013 11:14 AM

      great news, this and DayZ were my GOTYs for 2012

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      February 7, 2013 11:35 AM

      That's actually interesting considering how long it was basically the red-headed stepchild of ubisoft IPs.

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      February 7, 2013 12:17 PM

      Weird, all you have to do was release a good game and people will buy it..... its weird they arnt blaming piracy for sales not being higher.

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      February 7, 2013 12:19 PM

      just think if 99.99% of the PC market hadn't pirated it

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      February 7, 2013 12:40 PM

      bring back trigens, val escort missions and tree houses

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      February 7, 2013 12:55 PM

      Maybe in 3 we didn't actually kill Vaas in our weird drug muddled brain and he will return. Michael Mando for the win!

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      February 7, 2013 1:09 PM

      Fuck Ubisoft.

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      February 7, 2013 1:27 PM

      Guess I'm the only one that didn't find it that great. Seemed like FC1 (I never played FC2) + a bunch of shit stolen from Assassin's Creed (tower capture, chest looting, the weapon upgrades). A lot of it reminded me of AC:B. The tower and outpost captures, and the Wanted and Hunter quests got really, really repetitive. But of course my game OCD made me do them all.

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        February 7, 2013 2:09 PM

        You should definitely play FC2, then! There are....212? Diamonds in briefcases scattered across the gameworld.

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      February 8, 2013 8:18 AM

      Ubisoft says; "franchise to be one of Ubisoft's 'major pillars'"

      Wasn't it already?

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