Ubisoft has made headlines again, but this time it’s not due to controversies or debates around its creative decisions.
Instead, Bloomberg has reported on speculation regarding the company potentially going private. According to a report by Vinicy Chan, Dong Cao, and Benoit Berthelot, Tencent Holdings Ltd. and the Guillemot family are exploring options, including a potential buyout of Ubisoft.
This move follows a sharp decline in the company’s market value, which has dropped by more than 50% this year. The rumor has caused Ubisoft’s stock to surge by over 30%, leading to significant gains for insider traders in a very short period.
Ubisoft is just one of several Western “AAA” game developers facing financial turmoil after a series of high-budget failures. The company has continued to prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, placing these agendas at the forefront of its operations.
One such example is Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which controversially features a Black samurai in feudal Japan, a move that attempts to rewrite history to align with DEI goals, driven solely by Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment incentives.
Ubisoft’s struggles are evident in the ongoing failures of major projects like Skull and Bones, touted as the first “quadruple-A” game, which has struggled to make an impact.
Similarly, Star Wars Outlaws has been marred by numerous bugs, glitches, and criticism surrounding the design of its female protagonist. Despite these setbacks, Ubisoft continues to fund initiatives like the “Develop at Ubisoft” mentorship program.
Though it appears to be a well-intentioned effort to provide aspiring developers with real-world experience, the program has been criticized for its exclusionary approach, offering opportunities solely to female and non-binary applicants, while seemingly sidelining male candidates. It remains unclear whether male to female transgender “women” are included under the program’s criteria.
Ubisoft is teetering on the edge of collapse, with its stock prices plummeting by over 80% in the past five years, including a dramatic drop of more than 50% this year alone. The company’s shares recently hit lows not seen since 2014.
Sales projections for Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s most heavily marketed release, have been disastrous, as consumer trust in the company has eroded due to what many see as a focus on ideological messaging and inclusivity over quality. With another high-budget failure looming, the company is in a precarious position, and the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, now rescheduled for a release coinciding with Black History Month has only added to the uncertainty.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows was postponed following a last-minute cancellation of Ubisoft’s Tokyo Game Show presentation. The decision came after controversy surrounding a themed figurine produced by PureArts, which featured a depiction of a demolished Torii gate, an important symbol of purification in Japan.
The gate’s imagery, seen as disrespectful due to its connection to the Nagasaki atomic bombing, stirred outrage. The backlash has intensified scrutiny on Ubisoft, as the game’s delayed release will still result in a significant financial loss, potentially exceeding $100 million.
When Assassin’s Creed Shadows flops, the impact will be catastrophic for Ubisoft, likely forcing the company to auction its assets in a bid for survival or accept a takeover.
Adding to the intrigue is a recent surge in Ubisoft’s stock prices, triggered by rumors of a potential buyout by Tencent Holdings. If such a deal materializes, it would provide significant value to current shareholders, as Tencent, a massive Chinese conglomerate, is reportedly interested in acquiring Ubisoft’s prized franchises despite potential short-term losses.
This news comes on the heels of investment firm AJ Holdings openly calling for Ubisoft to be sold and taken private, with an appeal directed at CEO Yves Guillemot, Tencent, and the Guillemot family.
If Tencent proceeds with the acquisition, Ubisoft’s workforce, currently consisting of 20,000 employees across 45 studios in 30 countries will face massive layoffs. Tencent would likely cut what it perceives as “dead weight” to curb financial losses, potentially resulting in one of the largest layoffs in gaming industry history.
Ubisoft’s direction has been widely criticized, especially for its emphasis on diversity and inclusivity within its flagship franchises. From the remastered release of Beyond Good and Evil carrying disclaimers about racial stereotypes, to Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed increasingly featuring ugly characters of diverse ethnic backgrounds and LGBTQ+ representation, some fans have expressed frustration.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, for example, featured gay Viking characters, further fueling the debate about the company’s creative priorities and its alienation of certain segments of its audience.
Tencent, a Chinese conglomerate with a vast global presence, owns Riot Games, the creators behind popular free-to-play titles such as League of Legends and Valorant. Both games feature increasingly progressive character designs, with Valorant notably including agents who are canonically gay or non-binary. These design choices reflect a broader trend toward inclusivity in Tencent’s gaming portfolio.
Riot Games, under Tencent’s ownership, has also implemented a hardware ID (HWID) ban system to combat toxic behavior, targeting extremists, racists, and malicious players in an effort to foster a more positive gaming environment.
Tencent’s influence extends beyond its gaming ventures, as the company is a strong supporter of BlackRock’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives, which aim to encourage corporations to adopt more socially responsible practices and push racial and sexual inclusivity.
Many game developers in which Tencent holds significant stakes have adopted similar progressive stances. KRAFTON, for example, implemented non-binary pronoun options and removed traditional male and female identifiers in its InZOI Sim’s rival. Additionally, Tencent is a major investor in SHIFT UP, the developers behind Goddess of Victory: NIKKE and Stellar Blade, further cementing its role in shaping inclusive game design within the industry.
While an acquisition by Tencent may seem promising on paper, it’s unlikely to lead to any significant improvements in the quality of Ubisoft’s games or reduce the influence of political ideologies in its content. Instead, Tencent would likely focus on taking control of Ubisoft’s valuable intellectual property while cutting developmental branches to reduce costs and maintain profitability.
By lowering development expenses, Tencent could sustain financial stability without necessarily improving the end product.
Tencent, which acquired nearly 50% of Guillemot Brothers in 2022, currently holds 9.2% of Ubisoft’s voting rights, while the Guillemot family controls approximately 20.5%, according to Ubisoft’s latest annual report. This makes a Tencent acquisition the most plausible outcome. However, this would likely result in Ubisoft being under new management rather than undergoing any substantial course correction in terms of its creative direction or overall strategy.
Amidst Ubisoft’s ongoing struggles, Stevy Chassard, the company’s Monetization Director, took to LinkedIn to express his frustration. In a passionate but misguided rant, Chassard lashed out at gamers who were celebrating the company’s decline.
As Ubisoft’s head of monetization, Chassard is responsible for implementing microtransactions, including pay-to-win mechanics and experience boosts in single-player games like Assassin’s Creed.
Under his leadership, Ubisoft has increasingly focused on squeezing profits through these tactics, leaving many players feeling as though they’re being sold watered-down content, akin to stuffing sawdust into the rice krispies of the gaming community.
Much the other liberal activists working within once-revered corporations like Ubisoft, these developers hold a skewed worldview, seeing anything traditional or widely admired as inherently flawed, hateful and oppressive. They operate under the belief that everyone will inevitably come to share this perspective.
Stevy Chassard, Ubisoft’s Monetization Director, embodies this mindset, expressing shame and frustration over what he perceives as the gaming industry being taken over by a “vocal minority” of toxic gamers. These critics, according to Chassard, celebrate Ubisoft’s downfall on social media, even though they supposedly represent only a small, vocal segment of the consumer base.
However, there’s a contradiction in Chassard’s argument. On one hand, he dismisses these gamers as a powerless minority; on the other they hold the ability to impact billion-dollar companies like Sony, whose game Concord peaked with just 600 players on PC, leading to a massive loss of well over $200 million dollars.
Despite claiming that these gamers are irrelevant, their refusal to purchase Ubisoft’s products has driven the company to the brink of collapse following the catastrophic failures of Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones, and the impending flop of Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
In his rant, Chassard also reveals that even corporate circles on LinkedIn, often the professional equivalent of Facebook are filled with negative remarks about Ubisoft’s shattered reputation. This suggests that even business professionals, not just everyday consumers, are growing tired of companies like Ubisoft constantly pandering to “marginalized” groups through relentless virtue signaling and monthly DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) campaigns.
If this is true, it’s a sign that the fatigue with these corporate agendas runs deeper than just the player base, and may be echoing through the industry itself which is a GOOD thing.
Chassard concludes his emotional “we did nothing wrong” rant with the lines, “How can you wish a company to fail simply because they don’t cater to you or the product does not please you is beyond me.” He adds, “We are all on the same boat, please stop spreading hate, we should all uplift one another instead of bringing each other down.”
While his plea for unity may sound noble on the surface, it’s precarious how the blame is subtly shifted onto consumers. According to Chassard, it’s the gamers’ fault that companies like Ubisoft as well as other woke producers of massive commercial flops like Bethesda, and Sony are struggling.
When these corporations produce big-budget commercial flops, it’s never attributed to their own decisions or missteps. Instead, it’s the “hateful, bigoted” consumer base that should be held responsible for not supporting these products. His message implies that gamers should be kinder, more accepting, and lower their standards for what defines quality.
It’s as if the burden is on players to accept whatever is offered, even when companies take once-beloved franchises and tarnish them with poor writing, ideologically-driven character designs and other inclusivity initiatives. The expectation, it seems, is for consumers to hand over their money and accept subpar products, while the corporations are under no obligation to deliver games that meet or exceed expectations.
Instead, the message is clear: it’s not the companies’ responsibility to create quality content; it’s the players’ moral duty to support them, no matter how disappointing the end result.
It’s ironic that this comes from Ubisoft’s Director of Microtransactions, given the company’s infamous track record for overpriced game editions and design strategies aimed at pushing players toward in-game purchases, even in single-player games.
The aggressive placement of season passes, pre-order bonuses, and microtransactions for XP boosts can all be traced back to the very decisions made by this man, whose role is to maximize profits through these questionable practices.
Ubisoft’s games are deliberately crafted to encourage spending on microtransactions, allowing players to bypass frustratingly slow progress by paying for time-saving boosts.
Stevy Chassard’s meltdown comes at a time when Ubisoft is facing its most precarious financial situation in years. The company recently slashed its forecasted yearly net bookings to €1.95 billion and admitted it would barely break even in terms of non-IFRS operating income and free cash flow. The year beforehand they closed with €2.32 billion in net bookings and €313.6 million in operating income.
Meanwhile, sales for Star Wars Outlaws have underperformed, and the delay of Assassin’s Creed Shadows to February 2025 has only amplified investor anxiety. Even Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot’s promises of a “player-centric approach” now seem like hollow rhetoric. When executives like Chassard publicly lash out at players suggesting that if they don’t buy Ubisoft’s games and enjoy its failures, they’re to blame, it becomes clear that the company is no longer focused on serving gamers but rather catering to journalists and activists.
Ubisoft’s lack of self-awareness and accountability has been a key factor in its rapid decline. Rather than heed player feedback and adjust their strategy, leadership has doubled down on divisive decisions. The concept of an Assassin’s Creed game set in Asia has long been a tantalizing prospect, often treated as a “break glass in case of emergency” option for Ubisoft.
However, the excitement surrounding such a title has been thoroughly undermined by the controversial portrayal of Yasuke, a purported historical figure as a fictionalized samurai, as well as by Sucker Punch Productions’ successful Ghost of Tsushima, which provided an authentic and accurate depiction of Japan with similar gameplay.
This usurpation has further diminished the appeal of any potential Assassin’s Creed installment in the region, one that has been deliberately ruined by Ubisoft due to its protagonist.
To promote DEI initiatives, Ubisoft has reimagined the historically obscure figure of Yasuke as an all-powerful samurai who slaughters native Japanese warriors. This pursuit of inclusivity, at the expense of historical accuracy, has alienated Ubisoft’s core audience, further fueling rumors of an impending buyout.
With figures like Chassard belittling and antagonizing their own consumers, it’s no surprise that Ubisoft’s collapse seems inevitable. A potential buyout won’t necessarily salvage their brand or restore their crumbling reputation among players. Instead, it only highlights the company’s unwillingness to address the real issues that have led to its downfall.
