Ubisoft forms new subsidiary with Tencent focused on three franchises

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In a recent press statement, Ubisoft unveiled a significant shift in their corporate setup by establishing a separate entity specifically tailored for their top-performing franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Chinese gaming behemoth Tencent is also investing around 25% or $1.25 billion USD into this newly formed subsidiary. This news comes just under two weeks after the successful launch of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which has received positive feedback and strong sales, despite recent turmoil at Ubisoft and online criticism.

Ubisoft forms a new subsidiary with three top franchises, with Tencent as minority investor

It’s possible that people who have kept tabs on the video game industry in recent years might be aware of Ubisoft encountering some difficulties. Over the past year and a half, there have been disappointing sales for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars: Outlaws, both released within the same year. In December, the studio responsible for live service FPS XDefiant was closed down, with plans to shutter its game servers as well. More recently, in February, Ubisoft announced layoffs affecting 185 employees and the closure of another studio. For quite some time now, it seems that a significant portion of Ubisoft’s expectations have been pinned on Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, the latest installment in the franchise.

Although Assassin’s Creed: Shadows significantly contributed to Ubisoft’s achievements, its impact probably wasn’t substantial enough to prevent the company from facing tough decisions such as potential takeovers. Reports of Tencent acquiring Ubisoft surfaced as late as October last year. The triumph of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows likely boosted Ubisoft’s negotiating strength, but it didn’t prevent the need for strategic maneuvering in other areas.

In the official statement, Ubisoft referred to this action as “speeding up its transformation by making a crucial stride in rapidly modernizing its business structure.” They further explained: “This new affiliate company will concentrate on developing game environments intended to become long-lasting and cross-platform.” The company plans to use this subsidiary to enhance the quality of single-player stories, expand multiplayer offerings with more frequent content releases, incorporate free-to-play elements, and add social features. With the recent unveiling of the significant update, Rainbow Six Siege X, it’s clear that Ubisoft intends to continue supporting their live service title, which has remained a consistent success for them. Interestingly, “this update will also make the traditional tactical shooter free-to-play for the first time.

Concerning the Ubisoft teams and franchises that were excluded during the establishment of this subsidiary, we’ll have to keep an eye on what unfolds next. This encompasses popular video game series like The Division and Ghost Recon. Here’s hoping this doesn’t lead to additional job losses or studio shutdowns in the coming days, but given the current state of the gaming industry, it’s challenging to remain hopeful.

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2025-03-27 23:32