Ubisoft’s numbers on the Nintendo DS continue to decline, despite their recent increase in advertising efforts. Following their announcement at the end of July, where they announced their 67% sales slump, Ubisoft ran several commercials with enhanced advertising towards the casual gamer.
Mark Slaughter of the UK Games for Everyone division says that Ubisoft plans to build off of their success with the Imagine series, where they are continuously expanding to other marginal groups, with “Marketer” and “Success” titles for the series.
Slaughter explains in a recent interview that extended advertising and strong retailer relationships were the basis for their success in the 2008 holiday season, especially on the Nintendo DS.
“But I think we face similar challenges again this year, because of the way the DS market is declining – and things change over the period of a year,” he tells GamesIndustry.biz. With the large two-third decrease they reported in July, along with their recently publicized decline, it is definitely going to be a challenging holiday season on the DS.
Slaughter does include that Ubisoft is not the only company facing hardships through the economic recession. “Overall, for everybody… there is a decline in the DS market in its entirety. So instead of that being a growing market, within Ubisoft we have to find out how much of that pie we can actually defend.”
“There is still a massive installed base, so the market is still there – but I think you’ve got to be clever about what part of that market you’re taking. We’re still forecasting big numbers this year for Imagine.” Ubisoft will evidently continue to defend their marketshare to meet these expectations, and will continue their advertising attempts.
One thing is for sure: don’t be surprised the next time you see an Imagine commercial on TV or in your favorite Nintendo Power magazine.
Mark Slaughter’s full interview with GamesIndustry.biz can be found here.
