Ubisoft launches new industry for Assassin’s Creed and alternative mountainous IPs, with €1.16bn Tencent funding
Ubisoft has initiated a new branch focused on its key three intellectual properties – Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry – in a transition that CEO Yves Guillemot refers to as a “fresh chapter” for the publisher. The Chinese giant Tencent has acquired a minority stake in this new entity by investing €1.16 billion.
The announcement from Ubisoft follows multiple reports suggesting a new venture was being considered using the firm’s resources.. Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft was contemplating the establishment of an independent business unit partially owned by external partners, noting that such a strategy could result in the new entity being valued higher than Ubisoft itself following years of declining share prices and a series of lackluster game launches.
In today’s announcement, Ubisoft has assigned a valuation of approximately €4 billion to its new subsidiary. It stated that this “demonstrates the significant worth of [its] intellectual properties, greatly strengthens its financial position, and empowers [it] to pursue its aim of becoming a more nimble organization, unlocking the full creative potential of its teams, and aligning its resources with the ever-changing expectations of gamers.”
Additionally, it confirmed that this new business unit will serve as the new hub for all development teams of Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry located in Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. Moreover, this new subsidiary will oversee each franchise’s “back-catalogue and any upcoming games currently in development or slated for development.”
“Today Ubisoft is commencing a new chapter in its journey,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated in a statement released with the announcement. “As we advance in the company’s transformation, this marks a crucial step in reshaping Ubisoft’s operational model that will allow us to be both agile and ambitious. We are dedicated to building robust game ecosystems intended to become long-lasting, cultivating high-performing brands and developing new intellectual properties driven by cutting-edge and emerging technologies.”
Regarding what the new subsidiary will entail, Guillemot mentioned it will concentrate on “transforming [Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry] into distinctive ecosystems.” The announcement elaborated, claiming that “increased investment and enhanced creative capacities [will] foster improvements in the quality of narrative-driven solo experiences, broaden multiplayer options with higher frequency of content releases, introduce free-to-play elements, and integrate more social features.”
Apart from the new subsidiary and its three major franchises, Ubisoft indicated it will focus on “promoting the development of iconic franchises alongside Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon and The Division, accelerating the growth of top-performing titles, and leveraging disruptive technologies on select new IPs, while continuing to deliver cutting-edge production game engines and online services.” Additional details are expected to be shared at a later date.
This significant restructuring of Ubisoft’s framework comes in the wake of a challenging few years for the publisher – which recently confirmed it