'Assassin's Creed' Dev Ubisoft Could Be Next In Line To Go On Sale

"Assassin's Creed" could very well be owned by another, bigger company according to recent reports of a potential buyout of its current owner, Ubisoft.

Ubi has been apparently in talks of a buyout by a private equity firm, with the negotiations in the earliest stages, reports PCGamer. The companies in line to buy the developer/publisher include Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co, both of which "have been studying" Ubi for a while.

It is said, however, that Ubi hasn't entered into "any serious negotiations." It also remains unclear whether the studio's major shareholder would even agree to a sale. But there are certain reasons as to why a buyout is in the works - and they spell trouble for the company's biggest IPs.

The company's biggest shareholder is the family of current CEO Yves Guillemot, who holds a 15% stake. As of this writing, Ubisoft has a market value of roughly $5.2 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Unnamed sources also told the publication that representatives from Blackstone and KKR haven't commented on the topic, but Ubisoft has mentioned how it is "building a strong portfolio" and looking to take advantage of "emerging opportunities amid rapid growth in the industry." They've also not commented on any potential buyout interest.

Internal Struggles

According to Windows Central, there could be several reasons for a potential sale. It has been reported recently that Ubi has been encountering several internal struggles, which has caused delays in major projects including "Assassin's Creed," the "Splinter Cell" remake, and other IPs such as the upcoming "Far Cry" and "Ghost Recon" games.

Aside from that, there's also the company's seemingly hard-headed push for NFTs despite immense backlash from customers. Combined, all of these issues have led to a high employee turnover rate, which were also caused by other things including allegations of workplace abuse, low pay, and problematic creative direction.

What's Going To Happen With Ubisoft Now?

Potential buyout or now, the makers of "Assassin's Creed" and other long-running game franchises certainly has their hands full. Perhaps a takeover is the least of their worries.

This is punctuated with information from reliable game industry whistleblower Tom Henderson, who revealed that the company is working on four new games, all unannounced, on top of 20 other titles which Henderson also leaked earlier this year (via XFire).

Speaking of the buyout itself, interested parties could actually be getting the studio at a massive discount. According to Kotaku, Ubi's stock now costs $41 per stock, compared to over $110 back in 2018. But in order to get that, they'll have to go through the Guillemot family and Yves himself, who has already fended off a previous takeover attempt by French media company Vivendi a few years ago.

Either way, Ubisoft going on sale isn't too impossible to think considering the company's ongoing struggles - from the departure of Yves Guillemot's son Charlie from the company (via Axios), to the already mentioned problems in the first half of this article.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce