Summary
Ubisofthas spun out a new subsidiary, backed by Chinese gaming giant Tencent, which will oversee a few of its top franchises, includingAssassin’s Creed. This change in operations atUbisoftcomes following a period of financial duress, stemming from multiple commercially underwhelming releases.
Despite owning some of the most successful long-running brands in gaming, ranging fromSplinter CelltoPrince of Persia, Ubisoft hasn’t had the best of times on the business side of things, partly owing to rising development costs and disappointing returns from major game releases. In particular, the year 2024 was a difficult one for the French publisher, during which its marquee titles, namelyStar Wars Outlaws,Skull and Bones, andXDefiant, couldn’t meet their respective sales expectations, leading to tanking shares and a notable decline in revenue. Even though Ubisoft kicked off 2025 on a strong note with thewell-received launch of the oft-delayedAssassin’s Creed Shadows, it doesn’t seem to have affected the company’s plans to rearrange its portfolio and offload some of its IPs to a spin-off entity.
On March 27,Ubisoft announcedthe formation of a brand-new subsidiary, which will inherit the licenses forAssassin’s Creed,Far Cry, andRainbow Sixfrom its parent in exchange for a royalty paid out to the latter. The new venture, valued at €4 billion (USD 4.3 billion), is poised to see Tencent invest €1.16 billion (USD 1.25 billion) for a 25% stake in the subsidiary before the end of 2025. Interestingly, this update comes just a couple of months after reports signaled that aUbisoft-Tencent arrangement was potentially in the works. Speaking about the move, Ubisoft Co-Founder and CEO Yves Guillemot said that it will contribute towards “strengthening our balance sheet” and creating the “best conditions” for the long-term success of the three franchises that are part of the deal.
Ubisoft’s New Tencent-Backed Subsidiary to Take Over Its Key Franchises
As part of the IP shuffle, the new subsidiary’s leadership would be in control of thefuture ofAssassin’s Creed,Far Cry, andRainbow Six. A wide selection of devs from Ubisoft’s offices in Barcelona, Montreal, Quebec, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, and Sofia would form the workforce of the new company. The Tencent-supported firm would also be responsible for existing games in the aforementioned franchises as well as those that are in development.
Ubisoft’s decision to spin out three of its most popular brands to an autonomous subsidiary is definitely a significant one that could likely change how these IPs are handled going forward. With a trimmed-down portfolio to supervise directly, it would be interesting to see which of itsother franchises Ubisoft focuses on next, after having invested a sizable chunk of its resources intoAssassin’s Creedthroughout the better part of the past two decades.
