Report: Ubisoft’s future remains in dispute: the Guillemot family and Tencent still fail to reach a purchase agreement

Ubisoft has been on a tightrope for many months now. With very few exceptions, practically all the releases of the last few years have not performed as well financially as the French company (which has a significant stake in the Chinese corporation Tencent) had hoped. Skulls and Bones, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, XDefiant (which has already started to close), the delay of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows… these are difficult times for the video game giant, which has an estimated 20,000 employees worldwide, and shareholders are pushing for a change at the top of the board of directors. That is, to oust the studio’s founding family, the Guillemots.

In recent weeks, there has been much talk of a proposed takeover of Ubisoft that would take the company out of private hands. But we now know from Reuters sources that a deal between the two majority partners, Guillemot Brothers and Tencent, is still not coming to fruition. The Guillemot family wants to keep its seat on the board, while Tencent is postponing its support until an improvement in its role on the board is guaranteed. In the meantime, the spectre of a hostile takeover hovers over the operation…

And what does this mean for us, the players? Well, nothing at the moment. Assassin’s Creed Shadows is due in february 2025, but the consequences of bad decisions in game development have taken down several teams, including The Lost Crown and, more recently, the two studios responsible for the failed hero shooter XDefiant.

What do you think Ubisoft needs to change to get gamers excited again?