Ubisoft has announced the creation of a separate subsidiary studio for its major franchises — Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.
The studio expects that the new structure will improve the quality of story-based games and speed up the release of content for multiplayer projects, for example, an insider had this to say about a possible Assassin’s Creed Invictus. It looks like Ubisoft wants to return to stability after failures with XDefiant and mixed reviews on the latest games.
The deal to create the subsidiary was valued at $4.3 billion. However, 25% of the new division’s shares were acquired by the Chinese giant Tencent, which is investing $1.3 billion. The company owns stakes in many well-known studios, such as Riot Games (developers of League of Legends) and Epic Games (developers of Fortnite). They also create their own multiplayer games, such as PUBG Mobile.
In general, the subsidiary will unite teams from Montreal, Quebec, Barcelona, Sofia, and other studios that have already worked on these franchises. Ubisoft will remain the full owner of the brands, but the new unit will receive a «worldwide, exclusive, irrevocable, perpetual» license for three series and will pay royalties to the parent company.
The market has long speculated about the purchase of Ubisoft. Back in 2024 Tencent wanted to fully buy out the French publisher. Instead, Ubisoft decided to go the other way: to spin off its most profitable IPs into a separate company and attract investment.
«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», — said Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.
The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Although Tencent had a 10% stake in Ubisoft, it has now acquired an additional stake in the company’s key franchises. Ubisoft assures that it will fully control the new division.
The deal could mean a more stable flow of content, given positive launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows and the fact that Far Cry and Rainbow Six are still popular. Or the deal will be another corporate restructuring that won’t bring much change. It is a matter of time to see what will happen in practice.
Source: The Variety
