Ubisoft could be the next video game publisher to be acquired
As Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard (joining Zenimax Media and many other studios and publishers Microsoft-owned), Take-Two acquires Zynga, Embracer Group acquires Gearbox Entertainment, and Sony acquires Bungie (Sony CEO Jim Ryan says to expect more Likewise), this is the season of consolidation in the video game industry.According to a report BloombergUbisoft could be next.
“Several private equity firms, including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co., have been looking at the French business,” according to Bloomberg’s anonymous sources, who also said, “Ubisoft has not had any serious talks with a potential acquirer. , it is unclear whether its major shareholders are willing to enter into a deal.”
The authenticity of this report is supported by the following small houseits sources among Ubisoft’s developers, both current and former, claim that “the company will eventually be sold to someone with a falling stock price and continued production difficulties.”
The publishers of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry must have had problems — according to an Axios report last December, Ubisoft was laying off staff at an alarming rate due to low wages, problems with creative direction, better opportunities elsewhere, and Pervasive workplace abuse. Recently, a Ubisoft employee group accused the company’s leadership of failing to address the issues. But being bought by a private equity firm, which could have fired staff and pushed the French publisher into trend-chasing cynicism rather than dabbling in NFT failures, won’t lead to much improvement.
Yesterday Ubisoft officially announced Project Q, a multiplayer shooter currently in early development.Then it had to follow up on the announcement on Twitter and reply explaining, no, it was not a battle royaleDo not have No plans to add NFTs.
In 2016, Ubisoft successfully blocked a hostile takeover by Vivendi, eventually selling its final stake in 2019.