The gaming industry is going through a sudden and massive acquisition spree, with Sony, Microsoft, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Tencent, and many others acquiring studios at a breakneck pace. Just the past few months have seen some massive deals, notably Microsoft’s Xbox acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which has rocked the industry.
Following the aforementioned acquisitions, many have begun to wonder whether other large third-party publishers will also be acquired by larger companies, and a name that has come up frequently in these conversations is Ubisoft, which, like Activision Blizzard, has been in the market for the past few years. , has endured a lot of problems and bad press. But what does Ubisoft themselves think about this?
During the company’s most recent quarterly investor conference call, CEO Yves Guillemot was asked about the top acquisition position Ubisoft was in, and he responded that while Ubisoft can remain independent, it’s thanks to its IP, assets, workforce, etc. Wait. In addition, if a takeover offer is indeed received, the company is willing to review the offer.
“Our decisions have always been for the benefit of our stakeholders, our employees, players and shareholders,” Guillemot said. “Ubisoft can remain independent: we have the talent, the size of the funding, and a lot of original IP. Having said that, if there is an offer to buy us, the board will of course consider it in the interest of all stakeholders.”
Guillemot then added: “We have high-value assets and we have enough scale to remain independent and create very meaningful value in the future because we have a fair share of the workforce, projects, technology, IP and player community. scale.”
“That’s why we’re able to deliver such high-quality content to so many platforms today… Of course, we don’t think too much about potential acquisitions of Ubisoft.”
Activision Blizzard’s various PR issues last year were a big factor in the company’s intention to be acquired, and of course, it also had an impact on its price, and Ubisoft’s situation isn’t all that different in this regard. In an industry that seems to be locked in an acquisition race, acquiring a company as Ubisoft seems like a no-brainer for an industry oligarch. Whether that will eventually happen remains to be seen.
Make no mistake, Ubisoft isn’t the only company willing to accept a takeover offer. Platinum Studios recently had an opinion on this.