Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Shipments Reach 10 Million

Ubisoft today announced its earnings for the third fiscal quarter, and among the highlights are sales figures for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, which come in lower than those of Assassin's Creed III during the same span the year prior.

During the company's third quarter, which ended December 31, 2013, Ubisoft reports 10 million copies of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag were sold in. Note that this is not the number of units sold through to consumers, but instead the number sold to retailers.

The game was described as having "excellent momentum," although this number is actually less than the sold-in number for Assassin's Creed III -- 12 million units -- during the same span in 2013. This is despite Black Flag being available on more platforms, thanks to the launch of Xbox One and PlayStation 4, than its predecessor. During a conference call this afternoon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot did note that sales of Black Flag during the first six weeks of this year are outpacing those of AC3 during the same span last year, suggesting the latest game may have a longer tail as more people get their hands on next-gen consoles.

Just Dance 2014, likewise, was portrayed as having "another robust performance," having sold in 6 million units in the quarter. However, it, too, was in decline when compared with Just Dance 4 during the same quarter a year prior, when that title sold in 8 million units.

Also noteworthy were the "lower-than-expected" sales of Rocksmith 2014, which sold in just 1 million units, and a small decline in digital sales. Compared with the same period in 2012, digital sales were down 4 percent to €53 million ($72.3 million or £44 million), a shift that was attributed to the strong sales of Far Cry 3 in 2012.

For the quarter, sales were €520 million ($709.5 million or £432.3 million), a decline of 35.2 percent over the €802 million ($1.1 billion or £666.8 million) during the third fiscal quarter of 2012-2013. This number is in the target range for what Ubisoft expected for the quarter. However, it's now expecting its full-year sales to land in the lower end of its projection, resulting in an operating loss of €65 million ($88.7 million or £54 million).

Chris Pereira is a freelance writer who spends his spare time agonizing over the final seasons of The X-Files. Check out what he's saying on Twitter and follow him on IGN.

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