Gaming IndustryUbisoft buyout talks are reportedly progressing, but there’s one small hitch: The Guillemot family wants to stay in charge, but Tencent isn’t so sure about thatWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Gaming IndustryUbisoft buyout talks are reportedly progressing, but there’s one small hitch: The Guillemot family wants to stay in charge, but Tencent isn’t so sure about thatWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
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The possibility of some sort of major shakeup atUbisoftgrew a little more distinct today asReutersreports that company shareholders are now looking at how to structure a buyout of the company that, ironically, would leave the founding Guillemot family in control.
The possibility of a buyout was firstreported in October, although at that point it seemed more of a kick-around idea than anything else: Ubisoft is in trouble, and something—just about anything—needs to be done. This new report, citing two people “familiar with the matter,” sounds like more of a concrete step forward, in the sense that there is an active push toward making it happen.
But Ubisoft is also struggling badly right now: Sales of Star Wars Outlaws, which should have been a sure-fire hit, were “softer than expected,” and Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the next addition to Ubisoft’s biggest and most popular series, wasdelayed for three monthsat the last minute, from November 15 to February 14, 2025.
More recent news has not been better. Earlier this week, Ubisoftpulled the plug on XDefiant, its planned Call of Duty competitor—an especially ugly move because it happened less than three months after executive producer Mark Rubin insisted XDefiant “is absolutely not dying.” The end of XDefiant also resulted in the layoff of up to 277 employees, and the closure of two production studios.
All of that is bad news for gamers, but the real issue is Ubisoft’s financial position. The company’s share price has slid from a high of more than $85 in early 2021 to just over $13 today. Whether anything ultimately comes from these negotiations is an open question for now, but pressure from shareholders is growing, and that puts a timer on things: If the Guillemots don’t dosomething, they may soon find that something is done for (or to) them.
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