North East games developer Ubisoft Reflections chalked up a 12% leap in revenues, with its popular Tom Clancy games bringing in more than half of all sales, new accounts show.

Newcastle’s Reflections became part of the Ubisoft group in 2007, with the global games giant having its head office in France and bases in almost 30 countries. The move which triggered growth at the Tyneside firm as it works alongside other studios on within the group around the world.

The Gosforth-based firm, known for its games including Tom Clancy’s The Division and Watch Dogs, has published accounts for the year ended March 31 2024, showing revenue increased from £50.3m to £56.3m. Operating profit rose from £27.1m to £31.1m, while pre-tax profit increased from £22.5m to £27.1m. Overall profit rose from £16.5m to £22.2m.

Average employee numbers dropped from 416 to 393, however.

A breakdown in turnover showed that £25.5m of the total sales related to development of games software and that £30.8m accounted for the Tom Clancy brand and associated trademarks.

The directors’ report said: “During the year the company worked on various titles in collaboration with other Ubisoft Studios including some unannounced titles. The company’s activities flex to meet the demands of the projects and headcount has stabilised based on current demand.

“The Clancy brand revenue showed a significant increase. In its ninth year, Rainbow Six Siege strengthened its leadership in the highly competitive first-person shooter live services landscape with impressive and sustained numbers throughout the year which is reflected in the 34% increase in profit for the year. Other sales of £26m have remained in line with 2023.”

The firm said that the impact of the cost of living on its staff continues to be a challenge and “where possible measures have been put in place to provide additional support for staff”. It added that that its products are subject to technological advances so the group is committed to research and development.

The studio also highlighted how the company is involved in initiatives designed to boost skills and encourage future workers “in particular by providing support to those most vulnerable, such as job seekers, seniors, and those from rapidly changing urban areas”.

The report added: “The Newcastle studio continues with its role as skills developer within the Dynamo North East group, which is supporting Newcastle’s post industrial transition to help the city become an emerging technological hub. This industrial initiative focused on the growth of the technology sector in North East England seeks to promote skills, education, and support research and development in the regions in the new technologies sector.”

Last year the business held a gallery exhibition at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, to mark its 40th anniversary – a milestone that makes it the longest-lasting video games studio in the UK. The games developer was first established in 1984 as Reflections by Martin Edmondson and made its marks on the industry with some of the world’s best-loved games, starting with Ravenskull and Shadow of the Beast in the 1980s, Driver, Destruction Derby and Stuntman in the 1990s and 2000s and games including Grow Home and Grow Up in the 2010s.