Vivendi has been pursuing a creeping strategy to takeover Ubisoft by way of its continued acquisition of Ubisoft stocks. The game company's top executives have so far balked at this bid, stating that Ubisoft will never be the same if the French media conglomerate proved successful.
Looming Vivendi Takeover
The observers' consensus is that Vivendi's hostile takeover is a done deal despite claims that Ubisoft is doing its best to fend off the attempt. It has enough financial muscle to eliminate barriers should it finally execute an aggressive acquisition campaign.
Ubisoft representatives seem to be turning to the press to leverage its own position. This was recently seen in a statement released by Ubisoft's vice president of live operations Anne Blondel to PCGamesN.
"So far so good, I would say, because gamers are still [with us] and I know for a fact, having been there for 20 years, that if you [separate] us from our independence, if you take away the way we like taking risk and inventing new stuff, well it's not going to be the same Ubisoft - for me, it wouldn't be the same," Blondel said.
Exposing The Ubisoft Brand At Risk
Ubisoft has successfully maintained a relatively successful stable of titles, which includes Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, The Division and The Crew. The bulk of these games demonstrate a business model anchored on open world formula for games. This approach entails unlocking maps as gamers play with the goal of keeping them engaged and entrenched in a particular game.
Blondel stressed that Ubisoft has so far operated using that formula, which has been complemented by different gameplay elements to ensure diversity in its games. She pointed out that there are new titles being developed that will feature the same out-of-the-box strategy. She warned that those are now at risk if Vivendi is included in the equation.
Her view is that the lack of independence would diminish Ubisoft's capability to introduce innovative and interesting titles since Vivendi could immediately pull the plug on risky or revolutionary game concepts.
"I think that's what makes Ubisoft so different, and personally speaking, I think this is what we are," Blondel said. "This is what we want to remain, it's what has made us successful and been able to deliver the type of games we've been delivering for 30 years."
Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft's CEO, has already declared that he will not continue in his position if Vivendi successfully purchases the company.
