In the wake of Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ release, Ubisoft has made some major structural changes to its business.
With a €1.16-billion investment from Chinese conglomerate Tencent, Ubisoft has spun out a dedicated subsidiary for its biggest AAA franchises — Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six. Tencent has long been a major investor in Ubisoft and will hold a 25 percent minority stake in the new subsidiary.
While the subsidiary focuses on those major franchises, Ubisoft itself will narrow its focus to creating other games, such as The Division, Ghost Recon, and Prince of Persia.
The change follows a lengthy downward trend for the company, with major tentpole releases significantly falling short of expectations, including Skull and Bones and Star Wars Outlaws. On top of that, Ubisoft has been cutting costs and conducting layoffs over the last few years. Even as recently as January 2025, the company laid off 185 employees and shuttered its development studio in Leamington.
In an internal memo obtained by Insider Gaming, CEO Yves Guillemot says:
“Their [Tencent’s] €1.16-billion investment will benefit all of Ubisoft. We will be able to firmly take back control of our future and renew with the serenity needed to create the best games.
The terms of this partnership are straightforward: we will establish a dedicated subsidiary within Ubisoft that will bring together our three most powerful franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six and Far Cry. This subsidiary will gather the teams working on these brands, primarily in the studios of Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona and Sofia. Tencent will be a 25 percent shareholder of this new subsidiary, with the aim of boosting these franchises so they become undisputed global icons.”
Guillemot continues, discussing how the investment will accelerate changes already in place, saying:
“This investment will also give us the means to accelerate the changes we’ve been discussing for several months across the group — changes that many of you have been longing for, as revealed by the Ubisoft XP survey. These changes are in line with the initiatives that Marie-Sophie has been sharing recently, which aim to put the creation of unique games and player satisfaction back at the heart of our daily work. This is what will enable us to return to a higher level of profitability.”
While it remains to be seen exactly how this change affects Ubisoft, at least in the short-term it should help stabilize the company. Shares in the company have already shot up 12 percent after the announcement of the subsidiary, and the influx of cash from Tencent, specifically focused on core franchises, will keep things moving. That’s combined with the recent success of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which hasn’t been a smash hit, but Ubisoft says it’s already the second-best launch of a title in franchise history.
We also already know plans are set in place for two of those three key franchises. Ubisoft just recently announced Rainbow Six Siege X, a major overhaul that completely transforms the game. And Assassin’s Creed has multiple announced games in production, including Hexe and Jade. In light of Shadow’s success, those plans are unlikely to drastically change
