For the last few years, the industry has been keeping a close eye on one of the biggest publishers/developers out there. Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, and Far Cry developer Ubisoft has been the target of a hostile takeover from French media conglomerate Vivendi meaning the developer would likely lose its independence and get turned into something that’s not exactly consumer friendly.
While Ubisoft has faced its fair share of criticism from the public, they’re constantly reconstructing their games and services around the feedback they receive from their players and it has helped them be one of the most successful and favorable game companies on the map today. With the impending takeover, Ubisoft was looking to do whatever they could to battle Vivendi and stay afloat while their fans rallied behind them.
In a surprising turn of events and a tense few years, Vivendi has finally backed down and will be selling its shares in the games company. Vivendi will get 2 billion Euros (approximately $2.45 billion) with this agreement, most of which directly coming from investors of Ubisoft who will help the publisher buy back the stocks.
“The evolution in our shareholding is great news for Ubisoft,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’. “It was made possible thanks to the outstanding execution of our strategy and the decisive support of Ubisoft talents, players, and shareholders. I would like to warmly thank them all. The investment from new long-term shareholders in Ubisoft demonstrates their trust in our future value creation potential.”
While Vivendi didn’t manage to seize Ubisoft in the long run, they invested 750 million Euros over the course of several years and have made a major profit.
One of the major parties who has helped dig Ubisoft out of this hole is Chinese internet conglomerate Tencent. While you may not have heard of them outright, they have a major impact on some of the biggest games out there including League of Legends, Fortnite, PUBG, and Clash of Clans. They served as the publisher on the newly released mobile version of PUBG as well as the core game in China, they own Riot Games, and have a 48% hold on Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite and the widely used Unreal Engine.
Ubisoft has referred to Tencent’s as a “long-term” investor and will likely continue to operate freely similarly to Tencent’s other business ventures. However, just like with the wildly successful PUBG, Ubisoft will take advantage of Tencent’s pull in Asian markets.
“The new strategic partnership agreement we signed [with Tencent] will enable Ubisoft to accelerate its development in China in the coming years and fully leverage a market with great potential,” said Guillemot.
China’s gaming culture is massive but it’s hard for Western developers or non-Chinese developers to break into that market due to heavy regulations and restrictions. With Tencent’s partnership, Ubisoft will likely begin dominating in this region with upcoming releases like the sequel to the MMO-like shooter, The Division, and Ubisoft’s massively popular tactical FPS Rainbow Six: Siege.
After meeting a deal with developer Bluehole, Tencent published PUBG, helped ensure the game meets the standards put in place in China, and they actively manage an official Chinese server for the game. While details are limited right now, Ubisoft will likely seek out Tencent to help build a similar structure for their future games in China.
On top of breaking free from Vivendi, Ubisoft has made a massive business move that will ensure great success for the company outside. Ubisoft took to Twitter to celebrate after the news broke, we here at GameZone congratulate Ubisoft on their victory!
To all our passionate players, fantastic partners and amazing teams around the world, thanks for all your support! 🎉 #WeAreUbisoft pic.twitter.com/WGmmIDOweY
— Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) March 20, 2018
Ubisoft’s next game, Far Cry 5, will release next week on March 27th for Xbox One, PS4, and PC. As for what’s next for Vivendi, it has been heavily suggested that they could begin making moves on another gaming company. If we hear of any developments, we’ll be sure to keep you posted.
