[Grisham]

M&A activity in the games industry hit a record $85 billion in 2021 and has been forecast to reach $150 billion this year, with huge deals such as Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard and Take-Two's buyout of Zynga having already been announced in 2022's opening months.

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."

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

 

[FactsAreDead]

Potentially interested buyers:























*crickets*

 

[The Bloody Nine]

I'd love to buy them out, shutter the company and sack everybody.

 

[regawdless]

Making the AC series exclusive would be big for the more casual consumer groups. If they say something like that, it's pretty much a request to getting purchased.

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Ubisoft is doing damage control for PlatinumGames!

 

[Grinchy]

They have a lot of IP that could be great to see handled by capable teams without all the predatory oversight. But buying them for the cost they'd command wouldn't be worth it unless you were trying to put out a new Splinter Cell with a $3.99 pink pride week sneaking suit and $6.99 Floss dancing emote to do over dead bodies.

 

[Frito_Pendejo]

I have tried so hard to get back into the assassins creed series but none of them did anything for me after playing as Ezio. Maybe its due to my Italian heritage but damn that game was fun.

 

[Neil Young]

All I want is Division 3. If that means a buyout, so be it.

 

[HE1NZ]

Buy EA instead. Ubisoft is fine as it is.

 

[Arkam]

These game companies are just throwing their panties at Big Tech money. Its amazing to see.