Ubisoft’s Restructuring Efforts

Ubisoft is taking further steps to get back on track after facing several challenging years. The video game company has announced the launch of a new subsidiary focused on three of its most popular franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. This subsidiary will bring together the teams working on these series from Ubisoft studios in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia.

The new subsidiary will receive a significant investment of €1.16 billion (approximately $1.25 billion) from Tencent, Ubisoft’s long-standing partner, giving the conglomerate a minority ownership stake. As a result, Ubisoft will focus on its other franchises, including The Division and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon.

A New Chapter for Ubisoft

“Today, Ubisoft is embarking on a new chapter in its history,” said CEO and Co-Founder Yves Guillemot. “As we accelerate the company’s transformation, this is a crucial step in changing Ubisoft’s operating model, enabling us to be both agile and ambitious.”

Over the past few months, Ubisoft has been undergoing significant changes, including cutting costs and jobs after several projects flopped. There have been rumors of a potential buyer or joint venture with Tencent to help turn the company’s fortunes around. The recent success of Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, which has already reached 3 million players, is a positive sign, but Ubisoft will likely need more successes to fully stabilize.

ACommitment to Single-Player Games

The announcement also brings some welcome news for fans of single-player games. The new subsidiary’s description specifies that it will “drive further increases in quality of narrative solo experiences.” While we can expect to see multiplayer and free-to-play offerings from Ubisoft, the company is not abandoning single-player games.