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Ubisoft is now the third largest independent publisher in the world thanks to Assassin's Creed phenomenal performance on the market in the third quarter of fiscal year 2007-2008.

According to Ubisoft's statement, the game made famous by the gorgeous Jade Raymond was the best selling PlayStation 3 game in Europe in 2007, and the second best selling game on the Xbox 360. The situation was similar in the US, where Assassin's Creed ranked as second best selling title for the PS3 and the third for Xbox 360.

No wonder Ubisoft's consolidated revenues came in great proportion (84 percent) from sales of games for next-gen consoles, in the first nine months of last year. Casual gaming (on which Ubisoft focused since the launch of the Wii) has also proven a safe bet for the French gaming giant, with titles like Fashion Designer, Babyz, Animal Doctor, Horsez, Hamsterz, Catz and MyWordCoach reporting pretty impressive worldwide sales.

Financially speaking, the most profitable third quarter in Ubi's history meant sales of more than 450 million euros, up 44.4%, or 50.1% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €311 million recorded for the same period of 2006-07. Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08 totaled €711 million versus €483 million in the corresponding period of 2006-07, representing an increase of 47.2%, or 52.1% at constant exchange rates.

Assassin's Creed, with its 5+ million copies sold, wasn't however the only hero in the dungeon. The company's other new franchise, Imagine (launched last year), registered impressive sales of more than 2.5 million copies.

Ubisoft also continued to gain market share in calendar 2007, and was ranked as follows1: Number 2 independent publisher in Europe, reporting 58% growth (versus 25% for the European market as a whole), and market share of 8.7% (6.9% in 2006). Number 3 independent publisher in the United States, where growth came in at 49% (compared with 29% for the US market as a whole), and market share represented 6.1% (5.2% in 2006).

Revenue estimates have also been upgraded for FY 2007-2008 and 2008-2009. For the current FY Ubi has a sales target of €875 million, compared with the forecast of €840 million announced last month. The 2008-2009 forecast is now at a full €1 billion, compared with the previously-announced forecast of around €975 million.

The French gaming behemoth is ready to launch the highly-anticipated sequel Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) in the first trimester of 2008, with Assassin's Creed for PC and the Nintendo DS following soon after that. The video-game adaptation of TV-series Lost is also slated for a Q1 2008 release.

The bad news is that Free Radical's nectar-filled shooter HAZE has been delayed once more, and what's even worse is that there's no indication that the game will be at least launched in Q2 2008.