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PARIS,
France (February 8, 2001) Ubi Soft, a global leader in the field
of interactive entertainment, today announced the acquisition of a
major German video game firm, Blue Byte Software.
Blue Byte is behind two of the most popular series in the history of
video games in Germany: The Settlers Series® and The
Battle Isle Series™. The Settlers Series®
is a well-known economic strategy simulation. Sales figures for the
latest in the series, TheSettlers III, topped 700,000 in the
German market alone. A total of 2.7 million units in the series has
been sold worldwide. The next installment in the series, The
Settlers IV, will be released on 15 February 2001. There are
already a large number of pre-release orders, pointing to sales of
300,000 copies as soon as it comes out, in the German-speaking
territories alone. The Battle Isle Series™, which
features futuristic combat strategy, has sold a total of 650,000 units
worldwide. Blue Byte is also the creator of Great Courts, the
first tennis simulation that can be played online and over the
internet.
Blue Byte, one of the pioneers of video games in Germany, was founded
in 1988 by the current head of the company, Thomas Hertzler. The
company develops, publishes and distributes video games, mainly in PC
format. It operates in three countries: Germany, the United States and
the United Kingdom, and has a workforce of 64 people. Blue Byte is the
only German publisher to have launched a portal for online gaming, The
Blue Byte Game Channel, which brings together a huge community of
online players. In 2000, total sales for Blue Byte came to 9.5
million euros. The expected success of The Settlers IV should
push sales up to about 16.5 million euros between now and March 2002.
The company’s business plan currently projects total annual sales in
the medium-term of over 20 million euros.
This acquisition will be consolidated into the Ubi Soft accounts as of
6 February 2001, and will have a positive impact on the group’s
results in 2001.
This transaction is in keeping with Ubi Soft’s strategy of selective
acquisitions. It adds two new very well known names to the Group’s
broad range of games for players of all ages. Ubi Soft aims to make The
Settlers and The Battle Isle global leaders and develop
them on a variety of other platforms, including PlayStation®
2, Game Cube…In addition, this move will bring new expertise to the
group in the field of strategic games, and will strengthen its
production capabilities with the addition of a German team.
Following its expansion in the United States with the acquisition of
Red Storm Entertainment of Morrisville, North Carolina in August 2000,
Ubi Soft now assumes a leading position in Germany, which is the
second largest PC market in the world, and, in terms of all platforms,
the 4th largest. Video game sales in Germany totalled more
than 1.3 billion euros in 2000 (source: Media Control). Moreover,
Germany is a favoured route to Eastern Europe, which represents a
market for the future. This acquisition will permit Ubi Soft to
move from the #10 to the #5 position among video game publishers in
Germany.
Thomas Hertzler, founder and head of Blue Byte, stated: “I am
convinced that this operation is the right choice for the future of
Blue Byte. I have complete confidence in Ubi Soft’s capacity to
safeguard the unique features of our games. Ubi Soft’s backing will
help make our products better known because it will allow them to be
adapted quickly to new generation consoles.”
Yves Guillemot, President and CEO of Ubi Soft, added: “I am
particularly happy with this acquisition. Germany is the country par
excellence of strategy games, and Blue Byte’s teams are the
leading specialists in the field. Our goal is to invest in Blue Byte
and to make available to them any tool they need to extend the
influence of their leading products. Together we will endeavour to see
to it that, having garnered such enormous success in Europe, these
wonderful games will soon captivate players around the world.”
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