Ubisoft is forming a new dedicated subsidiary for its core IPs of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six in an effort to transform its operations, the company announced Thursday. The new entity will be backed by a €1.16 billion (roughly Rs. 10,694 crore) investment from Chinese conglomerate Tencent, which will hold a minority stake in the subsidiary. The move represents Ubisoft’s efforts to combat falling share prices amid misfiring releases and its intent to focus on its biggest franchises.
Ubisoft, Tencent Form New Subsidiary
The unit, backed by the new investment, is valued at EUR 4 billion (roughly Rs. 36,878 crore) and headquartered in France. Tencent’s stake in the subsidiary will amount to approximately 25 percent, Ubisoft said. The newly created entity strengthens Ubisoft’s balance sheet by “significantly reducing” its debt, the company added. The subsidiary would remain exclusively controlled and consolidated by Ubisoft.
“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 said in a press release. The subsidiary” will focus on building “truly evergreen and multi-platform” game ecosystems around the company’s biggest franchises.
The new unit will comprise Ubisoft teams working on Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry games based in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. The subsidiary will also house Ubisoft’s back-catalog of titles and any new games currently under development or to be developed, the company said. Ubisoft is working on multiple Assassin’s Creed projects that include a new game — Assassin’s Creed Hexe, several remasters or remakes of older games, a mobile title, among others.
Ubisoft’s move to transform its operating model for its most lucrative properties comes after a difficult year of studio closures, layoffs and cancelled projects. The company’s share price fell 40 percent in 2024 after back-to-back disappointing launches of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws, two AAA games based on popular external IPs. The company’s founding Guillemot family, its largest shareholder, had reportedly been exploring talks with Tencent and other investors over a buyout deal that would allow them to retain control over its franchises.
‘A New Chapter’
“Today Ubisoft is opening a new chapter in its history,” Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said. “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.”
The Ubisoft announcement comes a week after it launched Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The company has been banking on the action-RPG to deliver a big hit after its recent releases fell short of sales expectations. Assassin’s Creed Shadows was delayed twice before it finally came out on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X on March 20. The game’s launch has been a success, attracting over three million players.
Ubisoft confirmed Thursday that Shadows generated the second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin’s Creed franchise history and was the company’s biggest day-one launch on PlayStation digital store.
