Looking at it on paper, 2024 should’ve been a banner year for Ubisoft. It’s been a significant one in the end, though not how Yves Guillemot and the rest of Ubisoft’s leaders might’ve anticipated.
Now, ten months into the year a new report from Bloomberg claims that Guillemot and his family holdings under Guillemot Brothers Ltd along with Tencent are planning to buyout Ubisoft, and take the company private.
This comes after a minority investor AJ Investments sent an open letter to other Ubisoft shareholders, claiming that the Guillemot family and Tencent were purposely plummeting the company’s stock price to gain total control of Ubisoft.
The report only cites sources who are said to be “familiar with the matter,” who identify the Guillemot Brothers and Tencent taking the company private as one possibility being discussed. Both Tencent and the Guillemot Brothers declined to comment on the story.
A Star Wars game, a new mainline Assassin’s Creed (that finally brought the series to fans long-desired Japanese setting), a new live service game in XDefiant and the resurgence of its Prince Of Persia IP all lay ahead of Ubisoft this past January.
Now that same Star Wars game sold below expectations, those who’ve waited for an Assassin’s Creed game in Japan are made to wait a little longer. Even with a strong start, XDefiant didn’t set the world on fire, and neither did the two Prince of Persia games.
Of course the global publisher/developer has games like Rainbow Six that can still bring in profits, but all of its other major prospects for the year have come up short.
2024 may not have been the banner year Ubisoft wanted it to be, but it’ll surely be remembered as a turning point in its future.
Source – [Bloomberg]