Ubisoft: Game Sales May Peak in '09

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Ubisoft: Game Sales May Peak in '09
2007 was a great year for gaming, and 2008 is turning out to be even better. However, Ubisoft's North America president Laurent Detoc thinks the industry may peak in 2009.
Posted by David Radd on Friday, May 16, 2008


Speaking to Reuters, Ubisoft's North America president Laurent Detoc said that he expects 2008 to equal the impressive output from 2007. He thinks the industry's cyclical peak will be sometime in 2009.

"Stronger financially is going to be difficult. It was a good year last year," said Detoc. "I don't even think this is the peak. The peak could be next year."

Detoc gave his comments before the NPD issued the impressive results for April, which saw $1.23 billion in sales. Despite the fact that the industry is set to sell a record 36 million hardware units this year, Detoc is concerned that many of these "casual" gamers (especially on the Wii) may not buy software at the same rate. "I'm a little cautious right now in terms of hardware and how that translates to software," Detoc said.

With regards to the economy, Detoc added that he thinks the industry is recession proof. "I hope it doesn't sound silly but I do [think it's recession proof]," he said. "The cycle of the industry is so much more powerful than the economy."

"It's true that when you have very good products, customers come and buy," Detoc added. "If you don't have good product right now, you are not doing well, regardless of the economy."