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Ubisoft's share prices have been tumbling for a few years now and the company appeared to be on the brink of being forced to sell. However, Yves Guillemot has quickly cooked up a new plan, forming a new subsidiary company with Tencent to house Ubisoft's biggest IP.
In partnership with Tencent, the new company will own the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six franchises, leaving all remaining IP like The Division, Watch Dogs, Rayman, Splinter Cell and others under Ubisoft. The subsidiary company is valued at around €4 billion, and Tencent will be buying a 25% stake for just over €1 billion.
Aside from Ubisoft's most valuable IP, this new, currently unnamed subsidiary company will also own the Ubisoft studios in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia.
Ubisoft CEO, Yves Guillemot, has already sent an internal memo to staff informing them of the change. Insider Gaming was able to get a copy of the email, which states:
“The terms of this partnership are straightforward: we will establish a dedicated subsidiary within Ubisoft that will bring together our three most powerful franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six and Far Cry. This subsidiary will gather the teams working on these brands, primarily in the studios of Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. Tencent will be a 25% shareholder of this new subsidiary, with the aim of boosting these franchises so they become undisputed global icons.”
Ubisoft also says that this change will allow it to “accelerate” changes requested by employees at the company.
The announcement comes just one week after the launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which has so far been a hit for Ubisoft, amassing over three million players.
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KitGuru Says: It looks like Ubisoft will be dodging a potential acquisition once again. With this new subsidiary owning Ubisoft's most valuable IP, I do wonder if there are any ongoing talks to sell off other franchises, as was rumoured earlier this year.
