It’s not just that somebody’s trying to buy Ubisoft…
The publisher behind Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Just Dance could be the next major acquisition in the world of video games. Reports by Bloomberg and Kotaku have suggested that there are several private equity firms circling the company.
…it’s why somebody’s trying to buy Ubisoft.
Those who’ve followed Ubisoft for more than a few years will remember that the company famously staved off a hostile takeover from Vivendi back in 2018. Since then, the 35-year-old publisher has suffered from a wave of departures from senior staff and the already mentioned production troubles with some of its biggest upcoming titles.
Not gonna lie: Ubisoft for me crested with Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. Syndicate was fun, yet also just a little too ridiculous. The Egyptian one didn’t do it for me at all. And its other games? …Meh? And I just couldn’t get into Far Cry at all. It seemed just contrived.
I know, I know: video games. But still. It doesn’t really surprise me that other companies are maybe smelling a little weakness from Ubisoft. I’m smelling it myself.
#commissionearned
It’s sad as it really seemed like Ubi had a good thing going for a while there. A number of successful tent pole games and a small scale dev/publishing initiative that was turning out some real interesting stuff.
But then the shine wore off their big games as it became clear they were very close to reskins of each other, even across franchises.
I’d say the complete inability to make a sequel to Beyond Good & Evil was telling. They got so tied up making UbiSoft Open World Game Type X #Y, they lost the ability to make anything else.
If they do get sold, I hope it’s not to one of the other big publishers. We need as many independent big players as we can get.