Ubisoft Launches New Subsidiary for Major IPs with Tencent's €1.16B Investment

Ubisoft has launched a new subsidiary dedicated to its flagship franchises—Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six—with a significant €1.16 billion (approximately $1.25 billion) investment from Tencent, a leading Chinese conglomerate. This move comes shortly after the successful launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which has already surpassed 3 million players. The backdrop to this announcement includes Ubisoft's recent struggles with high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations, all of which have placed immense pressure on the company as its share price reached a historic low.

The newly formed subsidiary, valued at €4 billion (approximately $4.3 billion) and headquartered in France, aims to develop "game ecosystems designed to become truly evergreen and multi-platform." Tencent will hold a 25% stake in this venture. Ubisoft's strategy for the subsidiary includes enhancing the quality of narrative solo experiences, expanding multiplayer offerings with more frequent content releases, introducing free-to-play elements, and integrating more social features into their games.

Ubisoft also plans to concentrate on the development of its Ghost Recon and The Division franchises, alongside efforts to further grow its top-performing titles. Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO of Ubisoft, stated that this move marks a new chapter in the company's history, aiming to transform Ubisoft's operating model to be both agile and ambitious. The goal is to build robust game ecosystems that will remain evergreen, expand high-performing brands, and innovate with emerging technologies.

The new subsidiary will encompass the development teams for Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, and Far Cry located in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia, as well as Ubisoft’s back-catalog and future projects. This indicates that existing projects should be secure, and there have been no announcements of further layoffs. The transaction is expected to be finalized by the end of 2025.

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