Ubisoft wants to find more investors, but they will still develop independently without being dependent on any game company.
Mergers and acquisitions in the gaming industry hit a record $85 billion in 2021 and are forecast to reach $150 billion this year, with major deals like Microsoft’s acquisitions of Activision Blizzard and Take-Two Zynga’s acquisition was announced in the early months of 2022. When asked during a financial meeting on Thursday whether Ubisoft believes it can secure access to the game platforms it has released future or not, CEO Yves Guillemot said he believes it will. “We will continue to have access to all of those platforms because I know the platforms are always in need of more compelling content titles. If we continue to do well with a lot of interesting content, we will be able to negotiate with any company easily,” he said.
“If we were to look at Nintendo we would stand as the third developer for them. Nintendo cares about everything we do and we’re even developing games under their brand name, so a partnership is possible and productive.” The CEO said he believes Ubisoft can develop independent, unrestricted games, but that if there are any offers to buy the company, it will be considered for the sake of the future.
“We always make decisions in the best interest of our stakeholders, which are our employees, players and shareholders. Ubisoft can remain independent: we have the talent, the financial scale, and a list of high-budget, compelling content titles,” added Guillemot. Having said that, if there is an offer to buy our company, the board of directors will of course consider it because it is in perfectly good interests.
CFO Frédérick Duguet added after the call: “We’re not going to speculate on why people haven’t made any offers.” “Or if any offer is made,” Guillemot added. Duguet continued: “What we can say is that we have high value assets, we have the scale to remain independent and create value that is very meaningful going forward, because we have the scale. workforce scale, engineering, technology, IP and a close-knit community.
“That is why today we are able to serve so many platforms with such high quality content. Of course, we won’t speculate further on any potential interest in who wants to acquire Ubisoft.” Ubisoft is one of the largest third-party game publishers in the world and owns hit franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, Far Cry, and Just Dance. Discussing industry consolidation earlier this month, gaming influencer Geoff Keighley hinted that more major deals could be announced soon.
The Game Awards judge tweeted: “I’ve heard from a lot of people in the industry that, as recent reports hint, there will be some major gaming deals happening this year. Everything is in the final negotiation stage, 2022 will be an interesting year for the game giants when they come home.” Following the announcement of the Bungie purchase last month, Sony Interactive Entertainment boss Jim Ryan confirmed that the company intends to make more acquisitions in the future. “We should absolutely expect a lot more this year,” Geoff asserts firmly. Hopefully we will receive a lot of good news this year, a big year with many changes in the gaming industry.
