It also claims to be the number two independent publisher in Europe and number five in the US, and has consequently raised its sales and current operating income forecasts as a result of the glowing results.

Top Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter added that the strong performance was largely down to Ubisoft’s strategy of backing new hardware.

“The company experienced solid sales across the board from both its new releases and catalogue games,  with particular strength on the Xbox 360 and Wii,” said Pachter. “The company beat its guidance by €16 million from new releases, €6 million from current year catalogue, and €7 million from older back catalogue.”

Pachter adds that Wii revenues were 21 per cent of Q3 sales, with an impressive market share of 29 per cent in Europe and 18 per cent in the US. Xbox 360 was similarly strong, accounting for 28 per cent of Q3 sales, with a market share of 15 per cent in Europe and 13 per cent in US.”

Best of all for Ubisoft, Pachter believes that – all being well – there’s more growth to come. “As we enter the next generation in console gaming, we expect to see Ubisoft leverage its position on the Xbox by capturing a similar dominant share on the Xbox 360.  Should Ubisoft succeed in capturing market share on the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii at only half of its early results, the company could easily grow its revenues by over  twice the industry average during this cycle.”