Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Ubisoft says it can stay independent, but ‘would review any buyout offers’ | VGC

CEO Yves Guillemot responds to speculation the Assassin’s Creed publisher could be sold…

www.videogameschronicle.com

Asked in an earnings call on Thursday if Ubisoft believed it would be able to guarantee access to the various gaming platforms it releases its games on in the future, should it resist any of the consolidation happening in the industry, CEO Yves Guillemot said he believe it would.

“We will continue to have access to all of those platforms because all the platforms need great content. If we are continuing to do great content like we do today, we will be able to access all of those platforms,” he said.

“If we look at Nintendo… we are the number one third-party publisher on it. Nintendo is interested in everything we do and [we are] even developing games with their brands, so the collaboration exists and it is very fruitful.”

The exec said he believed Ubisoft could remain independent but that any offers to buy the company would be reviewed in the interest of its stakeholders.

“We have always taken decisions in the interest of our stakeholders, which are our employees, players and shareholders. Ubisoft can remain independent: we have the talent, the financial scale, and a large portfolio of original IPs,” Guillemot added.

“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.”

CFO Frédérick Duguet added later in the call: “We will not speculate on why people haven’t made any offer”. Guillemot added: “Or if any offer was made.”

Duguet continued: “What we can say is we have 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 our workforce, engineering, technology, IPs and engaged communities.

“That’s why we are able to serve so many platforms today with such high-quality content… Of course we won’t speculate any more on any potential interest in buying Ubisoft.”

 

[ReBurn]

That's a load off

 

[Deerock71]

 

[digital_ghost]

Master chief in Assassins Creed confirmed.

 

[bitbydeath]

Vivendi.

 

[KingGhidorah]

Facebook!!

Ubi's Assassin's Creed games seem perfect for VR, who wouldn't want to walk in medieval or ancient cities

 

[Trogdor1123]

Of course they would, they would be obliged to

 

[Plantoid]

M$, you know what to do.

 

[rapid32.5]

So many companies beg to be bought but have nothing to offer in return.

 

[Oddvintagechap]

Vivendi.

But in reality …

 

[bitbydeath]

M$, you know what to do.

MS are already under scrutiny with the Activision deal.

 

[ThatGamingDude]

Bahahahahahaha
"You know, we can make it as a company on our own....but if you want to buy us out for a large sum of money...."

 

[TransTrender]

Maybe they realize their blood is in the water and they need to be sold to shake off those pesky abuse allegations on 'Old Ubi' before they have to face any real accountability.

 

[Catphish]

I mean, I'm no insider and I don't know shit, and I see Ubisoft through the eyes of a jaded, grumpy codger who's only a year away from his AARP card, but lol at those clowns thinking they have anything to offer that another company would want to buy. They've done nothing but devolve for the past 5 years. It's like they see what EA's been up to the last few years and think, Oui, we would like to shit ze bed just like zem.

 

[Fare thee well]

In other words, 'please buys us out, please!'

That NFT idea was a real banger eh?

 

[[Sigma]]

Jim bet not spend a dime on this desperate trash.

 

[kingfey]

Before anyone rushes with Sony or MS buyout, you have to remember that Ubisoft is french company. You will have to fight the EU to buy them. So they are safe for now.

 

[GigaBowser]

Master chief in Assassins Creed confirmed.

I wonder if Ezio and Aloy are going to become an item.

 

[Walter Matthau]

Highly doubt Microsoft or Sony have a strong interest in them. Nintendo would have zero interest.

Maybe Amazon?

 

[GigaBowser]

Before anyone rushes with Sony or MS buyout, you have to remember that Ubisoft is french company. You will have to fight the EU to buy them. So they are safe for now.

It sounds like they want to be bought out.

 

[TransTrender]

You will have to fight the EU to buy them. So they are safe for now.

 

[kingfey]

It sounds like they want to be bought out.

They gave the signal. But anyone who wants to buy them, has to go through these geezers at EU.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Give them credit at least they're honest about it.

Most companies will play the PR game and try to convince everyone they are some godly independent company protecting consumers from big corporate umbrellas, but then one day an announcement comes out and they accepted an offer to be taken over.

At least UBI admits being open to being a mercenary.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

That Nintendo call out. They could buy them with the money that made from Mario Kart 8 alone. ($3.2 Billion)


However, I hate the whole idea of these major companies getting sold.

 

[Fess]

Before anyone rushes with Sony or MS buyout, you have to remember that Ubisoft is french company. You will have to fight the EU to buy them. So they are safe for now.

Embracer will soon gulp them up

 

[yurinka]

At least UBI admits being open to being a mercenary.

It sounds like they want to be bought out.

Nah, they fought hard to continue independent when a hostile takeover was in the horizon. They skipped Vivendi and got Tencent as investor but limited to acquire only a 5% of the company.

And being one of the top independent game publishers (meaning, not part of a conglomerate who has other interests outside gaming), in a context of consolidation many if not all these giants who are acquiring pretty likely already tried to acquire them.

They have been asked about this topic on an earnings call and they gave this standard reply. Obviously if any company gets an offer they would review it, but it doesn't imply they're open or thatt want to sell.

That Nintendo call out. They could buy them with the money that made from Mario Kart 8 alone. ($3.2 Billion)

Lol no, the game didn't made that for Nintendo and Ubisoft is worth way more money than that.

 

[kingfey]

Embracer will soon gulp them up

they dont have the money.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Lol no, the game didn't made that for Nintendo and Ubisoft is worth way more money than that.

While I am being facetious about how much Ubisoft is worth, (market cap of $7B) I think Mario Kart 8 is closer to 3 billion dollars in sales if the math works out.


Am I tripping?

 

[SSfox]

Ubisoft has lost all their top talent devs and has become very mediore in terms of games and quality, not worth it imo.

 

[yurinka]

While I am being facetious about how much Ubisoft is worth, (market cap of $7B) I think Mario Kart 8 is closer to 3 billion dollars in sales if the math works out.


Am I tripping?

Market cap is only the value of the stocks that are available to be acquired in the market, which traditionally aren't the total amount of stocks of the company, which also may have more value beyond that. Market cap isn't the acquisition price of a company.

Regarding Mario Kart, game development has costs, huge marketing campaign have costs, companies pay taxes, part of the retail sales go to retailers/distributors/etc.

 

[kingfey]

That Nintendo call out. They could buy them with the money that made from Mario Kart 8 alone. ($3.2 Billion)


However, I hate the whole idea of these major companies getting sold.

Before Nintendo tries to buy them, they will get outbid easily. Ubisoft is publicly traded company. Google, amazon and MS wont let anyone buy it. Even TenCent and Facebook can join the battle.

The real pain in the arse in the EU regulation. These guys wont let ubisoft get bought easily.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

DO IT !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Market cap is only the value of the stocks that are available to be acquired in the market, which traditionally aren't the total amount of stocks of the company, which also may have more value beyond that. Market cap isn't the acquisition price of a company.

Regarding Mario Kart, game development has costs, huge marketing campaign have costs, companies pay taxes, part of the retail sales go to retailers/distributors/etc.

You are right however as with box office numbers when it comes to movies, the budget is not included with respect to the ticket sales. Im sure it cost millions of dollars to make and market the game but at face value, it sold very nearly 3 Billion Dollars. We don't have the production numbers to extract data from so sales is all we have to go on.


As for market cap, Activision sold close to it's number so, I'm not a FA so what the hell do I know.

Before Nintendo tries to buy them, they will get outbid easily. Ubisoft is publicly traded company. Google, amazon and MS wont let anyone buy it. Even TenCent and Facebook can join the battle.

The real pain in the arse in the EU regulation. These guys wont let ubisoft get bought easily.

I don't want them to buy Ubisoft. I hate that idea.

 

[Craig of War]

Would not surprise me if we see a Phil Spencer is reevaluating relationship with Ubisoft
he was reevaluating relationship with Activision before the big news drop

 

[MMaRsu]

Lmao who wants ubisoft their games are devoid of any soul

 

[Bernd Lauert]

Daddy Satya gonna open his wallet once again

 

[DustQueen]

I am not a whore but...

 

[Panajev2001a]

Of course they would, they would be obliged to

I love how companies (Apple is a master at this) speak about respecting the law as if they were optional somehow.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

There are only a couple of IPs I’m interested in over there anyway. They have turned them to shit too so that interest has waned

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Truly a bizarre statement.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I love how companies (Apple is a master at this) speak about respecting the law as if they were optional somehow.

If you want to really get down to it, respecting the law is always optional, it’s just that there are very clear consequences of breaking the law.
Having said that companies break the law a lot of times, it’s a simple risk vs. benefits calculation for them.

 

[lh032]

This is one of the publisher which im fine if bought by Microsoft.

Last Ubisoft game I played is far cry 5, and it plays the same as previous entries. Most ubisoft games are shit anyway

If Microsoft acquire Ubisoft, would be very interesting to see how they manage around 45 studios of workforce.

 

[Orpheum]

I hope they get bought out by someone and get turned around to produce some quality games again.

Their most recent games all feel like "how little effort do we have to put into development to maximize the amount of money" I know it's a smart business model in general. But the games suffer greatly from this mindset

 

[Panajev2001a]

If you want to really get down to it, respecting the law is always optional, it’s just that there are very clear consequences of breaking the law.
Having said that companies break the law a lot of times, it’s a simple risk vs. benefits calculation for them.

No, it is still not optional, that is why there are consequences .

I can see why people and companies behave like that and it is depressing. Fines and punishment deter the causal offender, not the mindset that starts with zero civic sense of duty and treats laws as optional and risk vs reward scenarios. That ends up in a dystopian whack-a-mole game… for the average citizen well welcome social score at some point, cause… and effect…

 

[EDMIX]

Highly doubt Microsoft or Sony have a strong interest in them. Nintendo would have zero interest.

Maybe Amazon?

At this point, who knows.

I doubt MS would based on already having a selection of games that fit what Ubisoft has and already making a massive purchase.

Sony might as it can address several things, multiplayer titles like Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, The Division series etc, also caters to the SP titles they already do and opens them up to a lot of smaller titles that Ubisoft does too.

Nintendo....I agree lol I don't see them making that jump.

Amazon, who knows at this point, anyone can get it.

 

[SJRB]

I swear to god we had like 3 threads about this yesterday but they all got deleted. Am I going crazy?

 

[John Wick]

M$, you know what to do.

I highly doubt MS will be buying Ubisoft without it being multiplatform. Quote me on that!

 

[Mattyp]

MS are already under scrutiny with the Activision deal.

No they’re not

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Would love it if Sony gets them, lots of talent across the world and can be shifted around for any major release accelerating its progress. For around $10B I think they're cheap. They have both profitable GaaS and great SP games.

But in the process, keep them multiplatform just like Bungie.

 

[John Wick]

Daddy Satya gonna open his wallet once again

Highly unlikely. Also they would have to be multiplatform.