Several games press are ringing alarm bells for Ubisoft, this early in 2025.
Of course, we have been reporting on alarming news for the company as well. Now, it’s true that the video game industry as a whole experienced a downturn in business in the prior two years, and its normal for game companies to experience brief runs of commercial failures.
But Ubisoft has had a particularly poor run of games for an uncomfortably extended period of time. While some companies have been able to weather this with some reliable moneymakers, Ubisoft failed to make their bread and butter franchise, Assassin’s Creed, as sustainable as the likes of EA’s sports game or Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto Online.
This all came to a head when an investor accused the company’s family owners, the Guillemots, and their biggest shareholders, TenCent, of collusion. And so the rumor mill ran on numerous tips that Ubisoft was considering a buyout of the company. However, even that has stalled, as the latest word is that the Guillemots and TenCent can’t agree on who gets to call the shots.
Last week, Jason Schreier shared his opinion on the situation, though it isn’t clear how much of this is part of insider knowledge and how much is speculation. But to quote his report from last week:
“The upcoming release of Assassin’s Creed Shadows could tell us a lot. If it’s a hit, Ubisoft will have more time (and leverage) as the founding Guillemot family sorts out the company’s future. But if it flops, we might see a drastic reorganization happen very quickly, be it a buyout or a sale.
Tencent Holdings Ltd., which already owns a stake in Ubisoft, has been linked to buyout talks, but we could also see an unexpected suitor swoop in. One guess? Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, which has said it is looking to make a big purchase this year.”
Last year, Savvy surprised all the rumor-mongerers when they decreased, instead of increased, their investment in Nintendo, right as that company is in the cusp of launching their latest generation of consoles. If Schreier has a source that Savvy is interested in buying Ubisoft, this may explain why they chose to take back some of their money from Nintendo.
Insider Gaming has a report as well, and they believe that there’s good reason that rumored buyout hasn’t happened yet. To quote their report:
“For now, the negotiation halt seems to be a strategy both sides are playing. Tencent will continue to snap up shares and raise its stake. At the same time, the Guillemot brothers will want to wait until late February to early March to reignite negotiations, as Ubisoft is set to release the highly anticipated Assassin’s Creed Shadows on February 14.
An Assassin’s Creed Shadows failure gives Tencent more opportunities to increase its stake at a lower share value. Conversely, a successful launch gives the Guillemot brothers more negotiating power to head into further talks.
It seems that, at least by my own sources, the move could favor the Guillemot brothers more. By all accounts from various Ubisoft sources, pre-orders for the game were high before the game’s delay and are still looking strong, but expectedly still behind that of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (which was released on both past and current generation consoles at the time).
Assassin’s Creed Shadows seems to be Ubisoft’s last major lifeline, and even if the game is a tremendous success, it doesn’t necessarily mean Ubisoft is out of the woods.”
Just last month, we reported on a leaked internal letter at Ubisoft, revealing a humbled Yves Guillemot being conciliatory to a company that he may be leaving in a matter of weeks. By all means, the Guillemots have themselves to blame for the company’s many woes, and they may need to be held accountable if some of the allegations against them are true.
But all of this completes the picture of one of the titans of the video game industry, now in crisis. The last time we had seen such misfortune in the industry was THQ’s bankruptcy from 2012 to 2013. Could we also see Ubisoft’s assets sold off to the highest bidder in the future? Is this what Ubisoft’s game developers and the fans of their games want or deserve?
For now, Ubisoft as a whole is holding onto the hopes of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
