Ubisoft has announced that Chinese tech giant Tencent has invested €300 million (about $300 million) in the company. In a press release from Ubisoft CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot, this 50-perent stake “further reinforces Ubisoft’s core shareholding around its founders and provides the company with the stability essential for its long-term development.”
At the start of August, a report surfaced that Tencent was aiming to become Ubisoft’s largest shareholder. Previously, it acquired a small percent stake in the publisher of Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance, but was looking to up its stake, including buying 15 percent from the Guillemot brothers (Yves, Christian, Claude, Michel, and Gérard).
“Tencent is a key shareholder partner for many of the industry’s leaders, who have created some of the most outstanding video games,” continue Guillemot. “This transaction reinforces our ability to create strong value over the coming years.”
“This agreement also aligns with our philosophy to invest alongside creative founders with full confidence that they will lead their companies to new heights,” wrote Tencent president Martin Lao. “Ubisoft has shown an impressive ability to consistently create world-class entertainment that include some of the most successful franchises in the industry.”
Tencent is providing Ubisoft with a “long-term unsecured loan” to refinance its debt. Additionally, it’ll be releasing several Ubisoft PC games to China, along with covering the development costs of its mobile titles.
However, Ubisoft will continued to be owned by the Guillemot brothers. Earlier this year, Guillemot admitted that being acquired wasn’t out of the realm of possibility, so long as Ubisoft remained independent. While this isn’t a full acquisition, it appears he’s gotten his wish.
While the Guillemots have been looking at being acquired, Ubisoft management is still said to have not meet the demands of pro-worker group A Better Ubisoft. The group was formed following multiple reports of the publisher’s culture of harassment and misconduct.
Tencent has been gradually making moves to have a bigger presence in western games space, particularly triple-A game development. Last week, it and Sony increased their stakes in Elden Ring developer From Software.
