Ubisoft Has The Means To Remain Independent, But Is Open To Discussions

Microsoft's deal with Activision-Blizzard, followed by Sony's with Bungie got acquisition conversations started all over the industry. Fans were hoping their favourite studio would get snapped up by their company of choice, analysts made predictions about who could be next, and developers put out statements on their position regarding an acquisition. While Ubisoft hasn't put out a public facing statement on the matter, it has done so with its investors.

According to GamesIndustry.biz, the topic of consolidation was brought up during the company's third-quarter earnings call. CEO Yves Guillemot assured that "Ubisoft's assets have never been so strong at a time when the value of assets has never been so high." That's not surprising, given the performance of some of the studio's recent games. Assassin's Creed Valhalla for instance, has earned over $1 billion in revenue and is not yet done with its content roadmap. Dawn of Ragnarok will be the game's most ambitious DLC – with over 35 hours of new gameplay on a map a third the size of England – and will surely see the revenue rise further.

However, that's not to say that the studio will immediately dismiss any such offers. "Having said that, if there were an offer to buy us, the board of directors would of course review it in the interest of all stakeholders," continued Guillemot. When asked by the investors why such an offer hasn't been made yet, CFO Frédérick Duguet replied, "We will not speculate on why people haven't made any offer," followed by Guillemot interjecting to specify "if any offer was made."

"Absolutely," continued Duguet. "So I can't comment on that any further. What we can say is as we mentioned, we high-value assets. We have the scale to remain independent and create very meaningful value in the future because we have scale in terms of the workforce, as well as engineering, technology, IPs, and totally engaged communities."

This seems like a much more measured approach than the one taken at the time when Ubisoft was fighting off a potential takeover by Vivendi. Perhaps the current scenario at the studio has caused management to consider more options.

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