Summary
Ubisofthas announced that it has created a subsidiary worth €4 billion that will focus onAssassin’s Creed,Far Cry, andRainbow Six, withTencentowning a majority stake worth €1.16 billion.
Over the past few years,Ubisoft has been going through some pretty tough times financially. While things have reportedly been rough for a while, they got worse after a string of triple-A underperformers,including Star Wars Outlaws, XDefiant and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. WhileAssassin’s Creed Shadows seems to be doing well so far, it seems the company is still seeking changes.
Since these financial issues have started being reported, it’s also been claimed that Ubisoft was looking tosell some of its series and IP to other companies, with Microsoft and Tencent rumoured to be interested. It seems that rumour was correct, as Ubisoft and Tencent are now creating a subsidiary together that’s worth €4 billion.
For those unaware, a subsidiary is a business entity that’s created and then either partially or completely owned by another company. In this case, Ubisoft and Tencent are working together.
Tencent Now Owns A Majority Stake In Some Of Ubisoft’s Biggest Series
As reported by French press Les Echos, Ubisoft has created a subsidiary that consolidates what it considers to be its three biggest series, Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Tencent, who has been rumoured to be interested in Ubisoft’s IP for some time, has invested €1.2 billion into the subsidiary, making it a majority owner. The deal is said to be completed by the end of 2025.
According to Les Echos, the subsidiary will be located in France and will take care of development, publishing, marketing, and distribution. The subsidiary will transfer employees working in the group’s studios located in Quebec, Montreal, Barcelona, Sofia, and more. It’s not clear yet what this means for the series not mentioned in the subsidiary, but we’ll likely find out soon.
As we accelerate the company’s transformation, this is a foundational step in changing Ubisoft’s operating model that will enable us to be both agile and ambitious. We are focused on building strong game ecosystems designed to become evergreen, growing high-performing brands and creating new IPs powered by cutting-edge and emerging technologies. - Yves Guillemot
A statement released by Ubisoft notes that the subsidiary will featurethe back catalogues, current games in development, and future games, from Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia.Ubisoft has claimed that it will focus on development of its Ghost Recon and The Division franchises, as well as growing its “top-performing” games.
