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Tencent & Guillemot family reportedly considering buyout of Ubisoft

Among the options, the two groups have reportedly considered collaborating to take Ubisoft private.

TJ Denzer

October 4, 2024 11:10 AM

Image via Ubisoft

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Ubisoft has had a bumpy road in its business as of late, and new reports are suggesting that the Guillemot family and Tencent may be considering a collaboration to move the company in a new direction. Recent reports suggested that Tencent and Guillemot may have been in talks to push for a buyout of the company, with Ubisoft going private among the possibilities considered.

The report of Tencent and Guillemot’s desire to buyout Ubisoft comes from Bloomberg, which claims to have spoken to sources familiar with the matter. The desire to move the company in such a direction comes after Ubisoft has reportedly lost around half of its market value this year. Neither Ubisoft nor Tencent have made any official comment on the matter as of yet, but supposedly one of the bigger considerations floating is that the two would collaborate to take Ubisoft back to a private company.

Ubisoft has had a rollercoaster year. It's worth noting that it started off 2024 with Skull and Bones. The game launched after years of troubled development and has failed to maintain any traction, currently sitting at daily peaks of about 350 players according to SteamDB. Its all-time high was a little over 2,600. Even so, Prince of Persia has had a pretty good year under Ubisoft with the launch of The Lost Crown and the early access of The Rogue. Star Wars Outlaws also just launched, but had a somewhat mixed reception. That is to say, while the company hasn't has a terrible run this year, it was by no means a golden year for Ubisoft.

It will remain to be seen if there’s actual fire in the smoke of Guillemot and Tencent’s supposed plans. As we watch to see which direction Ubisoft goes, stay tuned for further updates here at Shacknews.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.