Rumors of an Ubisoft buyout have popped up multiple times in recent memory – in fact, the last one was back in October, when Bloomberg insiders claimed that the Guillemot family was in talks with Tencent to take the company private.
But now, Reuters suggests talks have advanced, as shareholders are “considering how to structure a possible buyout […] without reducing the founding family’s control.” Tencent is relevant here as it’s the second-largest shareholder in the company, but it’s currently unclear whether it is on board with helping the Guillemots buy out smaller investors or just holding steady with what it’s got. Together, the Guillemots and Tencent own nearly 25% of the company and almost 30% of its voting rights.
The news comes the same week that Ubisoft announced it is shuttering its brand-new shooter XDefiant, Ubisoft San Francisco’s production studio, and Ubisoft Osaka, in addition to “ramping down” Ubisoft Sydney and laying off nearly 300 people. As we noted on Tuesday, these layoffs will be the company’s third round in 2024 alone, a year when the company also tired to push gen AI junk and failed NFT/Web3 games, canceled a Division spinoff, sunsetted The Crew 1 so hamfistedly that it generated a fresh game preservation movement and lawsuit, botched its RTO mandates such that 700 workers went on strike for three days, and sent out an exec to suggest gamers needed to “get comfortable” not owning their own games. Yeah, maybe Tencent has the right idea to wait and see what happens.
