Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 are back in news, and this time both of them have been linked to a certain game developing company. Per reports, a press release from Ubisoft has made the company's intentions clear for developing games for next-generation platforms.
The company's first quarter report for 2013 clearly shows a 12 percent increase in expenses for the Research and Development department, when compared to the same quarter last year. Moreover, Ubisoft's Research and Development investment expenditures, which actually are the final goods and services a company invests in for upcoming products, shows an increase of over $17.3 million in the year-to-year comparison.
"First-half sales were buoyed by the performance of Ghost Recon Future Soldier and the digital segment, as well as by the initial sell-in of Just Dance 4. This fed a strong increase in gross profit, which was up for the third year in a row. As expected, our marketing spend on major titles scheduled for release in the third fiscal quarter significantly pushed up selling expenses and led to a higher current operating loss," stated CEO Yves Guillemot. "However, those large-scale marketing campaigns for Assassin's Creed 3 and Far Cry 3 should pave the way for an exceptional year-end, with a significant increase in both sales and profitability."
Now, per an Examiner report, Ubisoft's numbers "clearly reflect those of a company that is actively working on next-generation gaming, especially with the strong interest they have already shown in developing titles for the Wii U." The report also noted that "The company has made no bones about their intentions of next-generation involvement, and like EA, they have made it clear that the upcoming group of next-gen systems need to arrive soon."
Ubisoft's CEO Guillemot added that from a longer-term perspective "WiiU's progression and the arrival of the next generation of consoles, combined with the strong momentum in the Free-to-Play model for PC, mobile and tablet games, will enable us to capitalize on the investments we have made in recent years. These developments will cement Ubisoft's positioning as a creator of successful brands with a growing expertise in new online models and services."
However, it is yet to be seen if Ubisoft is actually developing any such games for the consoles of the future. Only time will tell.
This information on the part of both Xbox 720 and PlayStation 4 is new. Earlier in October, it was reported that while the PlayStation 4 could make its way to fans somewhere around 2014 or 2015, there is still some waiting to do as far as the new Xbox is concerned.
