This date will mark the operational launch of a subsidiary which will manage the most powerful licenses of the French video game giant. The latter will be reorganized into multiple autonomous “creative houses”.
The pieces of the game are falling into place. According to our information, Ubisoft informed its 17,000 employees around the world this Thursday of the launch of the first stage of the major reorganization of the European video game giant, based in Saint-Mandé. “Today, I can already announce that we will reach a key milestone on 1is October with the operational launch of the first house bringing together our three brands Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six: a milestone which marks a new stage in our adventure.wrote CEO Yves Guillemot in an email consulted by Le Figaro.
This subsidiary, with a name still unknown, will manage the group’s three most lucrative licenses. Ubisoft, founded by the Guillemot brothers 40 years ago, will retain full ownership of these brands. But he will delegate the editorial and commercial exploitation to this subsidiary, which will pay him royalties each year.
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The latter will be co-directed by Charlie Guillemotson of the CEO, and Christophe Derennes, director of the group’s North American studios. The full composition of the management team will be revealed on October 1st. It will also welcome into its capital the Chinese giant Tencent, which will hold 25% against 1.16 billion euros. The operation, which will reduce Ubisoft’s debt, should be finalized by the end of the year.
More announcements to come
Other announcements will follow. Ubisoft had in fact revealed this summer that the entire group will soon be subdivided into several autonomous units, named «Creative Houses» or “creative houses”. Rather than maneuvering a huge liner, Ubisoft prefers to reorganize into multiple corvettes, much more agile, and which will aim to “reflect the diversity of gaming experiences offered” by the group. The publisher is also behind platform games (Rayman), car racing (The Crew), extreme sports (Steep), action (Prince of Persia), strategy (Anno, Mario and the Rabbids), dance (Just Dance), and multiple mobile games…
Each of these houses will have “a clear roadmap”of the “dedicated objectives” et “its own management team”. In his email, Yves Guillemot specifies that the Ubisoft transformation committee will submit its recommendations by October 31. “Their analyzes will be submitted to the executive committee and the board of directors, before being shared with you at the end of the year.” Enough to fuel the concern of employees, who wonder if this big bang would not have the objective of facilitating asset transfers. Ubisoft does not expect a return to profits until the 2026/2027 fiscal year. In May he announced a savings plan of 100 million euros over the next two years.
