Embattled Ubisoft Forms Subsidiary for IPs Like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six With the Help of €1.16 Billion Tencent Investment

Ubisoft has created a subsidiary company based on its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six brands, with a €1.16 billion (approx. $1.25 billion) investment from Chinese megacorp Tencent.

The news comes hot on the heels of the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which just passed the 3 million player mark. Ubisoft suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations in the run up to Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ release, and there is enormous pressure on it to succeed after the company’s share price hit an historic low.

Ubisoft said this new subsidiary, valued at €4 billion (approx. $4.3 billion) and based in France, will focus on “building game ecosystems designed to become truly evergreen and multi-platform.” Tencent’s stake amounts to 25%.

Ubisoft added: “Backed by greater investment and boosted creative capacities, it will drive further increases in quality of narrative solo experiences, expand multiplayer offerings with increased frequency of content release, introduce free-to-play touchpoints, and integrate more social features.”

Ubisoft said it will “focus” on the development of its Ghost Recon and The Division franchises and grow its top performing games.

“Today Ubisoft is opening a new chapter in its history,” said Yves Guillemot, co-founder and chief executive officer of Ubisoft.

“As we accelerate the company’s transformation, this is a foundational step in changing Ubisoft’s operating model that will enable us to be both agile and ambitious. We are focused on building strong game ecosystems designed to become evergreen, growing high-performing brands and creating new IPs powered by cutting-edge and emerging technologies.

“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. With its dedicated and autonomous leadership team, it will focus on transforming these three brands into unique ecosystems.

“We are committed to building a sharper, more focused organization-one where talented teams will take our brands to the next level, accelerate the growth of emerging franchises, and lead innovation in next generation technologies and services, all with the goal of delivering enriching, memorable games that exceed players’ expectations, and create superior value for our shareholders and other stakeholders.”

So, what does the deal mean in reality? This new subsidiary includes the teams developing the Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, and Far Cry franchises based in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia, as well as Ubisoft’s back-catalog and any new games currently under development or to be developed. So, it sounds like existing projects are safe, and there is no word yet on more layoffs.

The transaction is expected to complete by the end of 2025.

Developing…

Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].