Ubisoft launches new business for Assassin's Creed and other big series, with €1.16bn Tencent investment

Ubisoft has launched a new subsidiary dedicated to its big three IPs – Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry – in a move CEO Yves Guillemot has called a “new chapter” for the publisher. Chinese conglomerate Tencent holds a minority stake in the new entity after investing €1.16bn.

Ubisoft’s announcement follows several reports a new venture was being considered using the company’s assets.. Earlier this month, Bloomberg claimed Ubisoft was mulling over the launch of a fresh business unit part-owned by outside companies, noting such a tactic could potentially result in the new entity being valued higher than Ubisoft itself following years of falling share prices and a string of disappointing game launches.

In today’s announcement, Ubisoft valued its new subsidiary at around €4bn. This, it wrote, “highlights the strong value of [its] IPs, significantly reinforces its balance sheet, and enables [it] to continue its efforts to become a more agile organisation, unleash the full creative potential of its teams and better align its resources with the constantly evolving expectations of players.”

It also confirmed the business unit will be the new home of all Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry development teams based in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. Additionally, the new subsidiary will control each series’ “back-catalogue and any new games currently under development or to be developed.”