Today, Ubisoft announced that it’ll create a new subsidiary that will take care of some of its most successful franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry.
This comes as a result of the the formal and competitive selection process initiated by the company earlier this year to “reshape” its business.
The new company will receive €1.16bn in investment from the Chinese giant Tencent.
According to the press release, the goal of the new company will be as follows:
“This new subsidiary will focus on building game ecosystems designed to become truly evergreen and multi-platform. Backed by greater investment and boosted
creative capacities, it will drive further increases in quality of narrative solo experiences, expand multiplayer offerings with increased frequency of content release, introduce free-to-play touchpoints, and integrate more social features.”
Ubisoft itself, on the other hand, will focus on “nurturing the development of iconic franchises including Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon® and The Division®, accelerating the growth of top performing titles and leveraging disruptive technologies on selected new IPs, while continuing to deliver state-of-the-art production game engines and online services.”
The new subsidiary will include the teams developing the Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, and Far Cry franchises based in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. It’ll own both future and older games belonging to these franchises via a “worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual license.”
Despite the investment by Tencent (which gives the Chinese giant approximately 25% of economic interest), the company will be wholly owned by Ubiosoft. It’ll have a dedicated leadership team supervised by a Board of Directors.
Tencent on the other hand, will have “customary minority protection rights as well as certain consent rights on the disposals of the important new subsidiary assets.”
The press release included a few comments from relevant executives, starting with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
“Today Ubisoft is opening a new chapter in its history. 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.
With the creation of a dedicated subsidiary that will spearhead development for three of our largest franchises and the onboarding of Tencent as a minority investor, we are crystalizing the value of our assets, strengthening our balance sheet, and creating the best conditions for these franchises’ long-term growth and success. With its dedicated and autonomous leadership team, it will focus on transforming these three brands into unique ecosystems.
Guillemot concluded, “We are committed to building a sharper, more focused organization-one where talented teams will take our brands to the next level, accelerate the growth of emerging franchises, and lead innovation in next-generation technologies and services, all with the goal of delivering enriching, memorable games that exceed players’ expectations, and create superior value for our shareholders andother stakeholders.”
We also hear from Tencent President Martin Lau.