Ubisoft CEO says still open to other partners after Tencent deal

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS (Reuters) – Ubisoft, France’s greatest video video games maker, remains to be open to different companions after a deal during which China’s Tencent will increase its stake within the firm, its co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot stated on Thursday.

Guillemot’s feedback, made at a closed press occasion whose content material the corporate requested to not be made public earlier than a showcase occasion on-line on Saturday, got here on the heels of a tough day for Ubisoft’s inventory, which tumbled 17% after the group introduced Tencent would change into its single greatest shareholder with an general stake of 11%.

The deal values the “Murderer’s Creed” maker at about $10 billion.

“We stay completely impartial and we will act with any outdoors firm if we need to,” stated Guillemot, who alongside his 4 brothers based Ubisoft in 1986. “That was a giant negotiation with Tencent,” he added. “We will do no matter we would like.”

Merchants and analysts have stated the Tencent deal, which sees the world’s largest video games agency by income enter right into a shareholder pact with the Guillemots, eliminated the speculative attraction of Ubisoft shares.

The group has lengthy been seen as a takeover goal because the Guillemots maintain a minority stake within the group. Nonetheless, the Guillemot brothers managed to fend off a raid by French tycoon Vincent Bollore by way of his media group Vivendi.

Smaller cell online game maker Gameloft, previously led by Yves Guillemot’s brother Michel, was wolfed up by Vivendi six years in the past.

The secretive siblings, sons of agricultural merchants from a small city in Brittany, western France, have vowed to guard their independence, a objective which Yves Guillemot, 62, reasserted on Thursday. “Our first intention is to personal our future,” he stated.

MEANINGFUL PROGRESS

That prospect was examined lately by a mix of weak monetary outcomes and allegations of sexual harassment, that led to a revamp of the corporate’s governance and pledges to alter a company tradition described as sexist by some former staff.

“Sure, we stumbled, and we acknowledge that”, Guillemot stated. “We discovered so much alongside the way in which and have made significant progress with concrete motion plans collectively led by our leaders.”

Ubisoft burnt by means of about 200 million euros in money operationally throughout its 2020/2021 monetary yr, having generated 169 million of operational money stream the yr earlier than.

The corporate’s monetary woes got here on high of a number of delays within the launch of recent video video games and heightened stress on administration, within the midst of a growth and M&A wave within the online game business.

These have been notably marked by Microsoft’s plan to amass “Name of Responsibility” maker Activision Blizzard for $69 billion.

As a part of its plan to return to development, Ubisoft is aiming to deploy its three “pillar” video games – “Murderer’s Creed”, “Far Cry” and “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six” – on all digital platforms, Guillemot stated.

The group goals for these three manufacturers to achieve a complete of three billion euros in annual income inside 5 years, Guillemot stated.

Guillemot stated “Murderer’s Creed” will launch its subsequent version “Mirage” in 2023. Ubisoft can also be partnering with streaming platform Netflix to develop three unique cell video games, together with one based mostly on Murderer’s Creed.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Modifying by David Holmes)