Ubisoft relocates "Assassin's Creed" and "Rainbow Six" to subsidiary
Ubisoft is strengthening its collaboration with the Chinese conglomerate Tencent. Three important game series are being transferred to a newly founded subsidiary - with Tencent as the financial backer.
On Thursday evening, Ubisoft announced a major reorganisation within the company: The three important game franchises "Assassin's Creed", "Far Cry" and "Rainbow Six" will be handed over to a newly founded subsidiary. Ubisoft will retain the copyrights and receive licence fees for the use of the franchises.
The Chinese technology group Tencent is investing 1.26 billion euros (around 1.1 billion francs) in the company in return for a 25 per cent profit share. The value of the company was previously estimated at four billion euros. The transfer should be completed by the end of 2025. Ubisoft owns 100 per cent of the company and its headquarters are to be located in France.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says that Ubisoft is opening a new chapter in its history with this step. The aim is to "accelerate the transformation of the company". In recent months, there has been speculation about a sale of the company. Tencent was mooted as a possible buyer - the company already owns ten per cent of Ubisoft shares. The sale has not materialised for the time being, but Tencent has secured a significant minority stake in Ubisoft's most important titles.
What is the purpose of the new company?
The franchises are to be given the best possible conditions for their future growth by being transferred to a new company. The game series concerned are among Ubisoft's most important assets. In May 2024, Ubisoft announced a new strategy according to which the company wanted to focus on the further development of precisely these games - "Assassin's Creed" and other open-world titles as well as games-as-a-sevice such as "Rainbow Six". As a result, the development of some other games was discontinued.
The subsidiary will focus on the development of long-lasting games for multiple platforms. According to the press release, the Chinese financial injection will also be reflected in more frequent content releases and higher "creative capacities".
The games will benefit from Tencent's expertise in the online gaming sector. There is talk of introducing free-to-play approaches and more "social features". The "free-to-play" principle often goes hand in hand with microtransactions, a concept that has been heavily criticised. The management team, which is independent of Ubisoft, will be able to make decisions regarding development, marketing and sales independently.
The studios responsible for the development of these games are affected by the transaction. Ubisoft specifically names the locations in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona and Sofia - these will belong to the new company.
What are the other Ubisoft studios doing?
This move will allow Ubisoft to strengthen its balance sheet by reducing its debt. The press release indicates that the company will focus on the further development of "iconic franchises" including the "Ghost Reckon" and "The Division" game series as well as "selected new titles".
Header image: Shutterstock/Michael Berlfein
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