Report: Ubisoft buyout via private equity looms as projects face problems
Multiple Ubisoft games are reportedly facing internal delays.
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What you need to know
French publisher Ubisoft may be looking to sell, according to a new report.
Bloombergpreviously reported that private equity firms were beginning to take interest in Ubisoft.Kotakuthen reported on Saturday that Ubisoft is working to audit aspects of the company in preperation for an eventual sale.
Acquisitions are at an all-time high in the gaming industry, with 2022 already seeingMicrosoft in the process of buying Activision Blizzardfor almost $69 billion, whileSony is acquiring Destiny developer Bungiefor $3.6 billion.
Ubisoft previously defended against ahostile takeover from Vivendi, with the Guillemot family remaining firmly in charge at Ubisoft an controlling around 15% of the company’s shares. Kotaku notes that Ubisoft’s stock price has fallen heavily in the last couple of years.
According to the report, Ubisoft is facing numerous internal problems that could lead to the company being sold, including delays acorss various projects. Ubisoft projects include aremake of Splinter Cell, which is currently in very early development, as well asAssassin’s Creed Infinity. Other games, such as the next Far Cry and Ghost recon titles, are also reportedly far away. Ubisoft alsoconfirmedthe existence of a new multiplayer game called Project Q on Saturday.
In the more immediate future, Ubisoft currently claims that Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Home, and the long-delayed Skull and Bones are all slated to arrive sometimebefore April 2023. As reported earlier in 2022, Ubisoft is developing astandalone Assassin’s Creed gamethat was previously DLC for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, something Kotaku alleges is a “stop-gap measure” for a period in which the company lacks new game releases.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
