Christmas pre-orders numbers for Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One are twice what they were for the launch of PS3 and Xbox 360, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

Speaking in an Ubisoft earnings call, Guillemot cited reports from retailers as the source of these claims.

"Some retailers, not all of them, are saying pre-orders two times than what they saw in the last generation launch", he said. "They're getting more pre-orders than what they saw before."

Clarifying further during the earnings call, a company representative said the first Christmas install base "will be double" the last-gen equivalents.

"That's including Wii U figures compared to the Wii," the person said.

On the subject of anticipation of next-generation Ubisoft titles, such as Watch Dogs and Assassin's Creed 4, Guillemot said "pre-orders are going really well" and its games are "in top five for most pre-ordered games".

"We think we will have positive growth from the 12-month from launch, we should see more than double-digit increase of the market in calendar 2014."

The company also said it does not expect a significant increase in development costs - an announcement that may relieve the industry as it looks to be more efficient.

During the call, the publisher Ubisoft revealed it has hit its sales target for the first three months of its financial year, but the business overall has made 40 per cent less cash than the same time last year.

Ubisoft's sales growth was driven in part by a 56 per cent increase in sales of older titles such as Far Cry 3, Assassin's Creed 3 and Rayman Origins. It also confirmed persistent online racing game The Crew will be released first calendar quarter 2014.

In addition to The Crew, Ubisoft's next-generation line-up also includes Watch Dogs, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and The Division.

Posted: Jul 18, 2013 12:42 pm
Related Forum: Xbox Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/419730/ps4-and-xbox-one-pre-orders-twice-the-size-of-last-gen-says-ubisoft-ceo/