Ubisoft has stated its transaction with Tencent is “on track to close in the coming days”, as the Chinese conglomerate acquires a minority stake in its new subsidiary Vantage Studios.
The new studio, officially unveiled back in October, will be the home of Ubisoft’s biggest franchises: Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and Assassin’s Creed. Charlie Guillemot, son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, will be co-CEO alongside Christophe Derennes.
The news, arriving in Ubisoft’s latest earnings report, follows a last-minute delay to the report last week and a halt in share trading, sparking speculation of a larger acquisition. That now appears to be ill-founded – instead, the delay was due to an issue with new auditors and revenue reporting.
In a statement, Yves Guillemot called the joining with Tencent a “pivotal milestone in Ubisoft’s transformation, significantly strengthening our financial position by bringing in €1.16bn of cash, enabling the Group to deleverage, as planned”. He added: “It will also empower Vantage Studios to accelerate the growth of our three flagship IPs under a dedicated leadership team.”
In January, Ubisoft will announce its new operating model built around Creative Houses. The first of these will be Vantage Studios and its three core franchises, with the guiding principles of “Autonomy, Focus, and Player Centricity”. Ubisoft hopes to build these franchises into “annual billion-euro brand ecosystems”.
Elsewhere in the report, Ubisoft’s net bookings are up 20 percent year on year for the first half of this financial year. That’s partly due to “strong performance” of the Assassin’s Creed games, Shadows included, while Rainbow Six Siege remains popular, though its move to free access has caused “a temporary surge in cheating”.
The company’s last major release for 2025 will be Assassin’s Creed Shadows on Switch 2, which arrives on 2nd December.
Last month, Assassin’s Creed series lead Marc-Alexis Côté announced his departure from Ubisoft. In an internal note, Dereness stated Côté had “his own expectations and priorities related to Vantage Studios’ creation and future”. However, Côté later clarified he was asked to “step aside” by Ubisoft.
