Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and CFO Frédérick Duguet recently held an investors conference call talking about everything from the release date of its upcoming slate of games like Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to answering many varied investor questions. One investor asked Guillemot about Ubisoft’s stance on a potential acquisition, which Guillemot answered positively, much to everyone’s surprise. Specifically, Guillemot confirmed that the company intends to remain independent because it makes financial sense. However, Guillemot added that Ubisoft isn’t going to outright reject potential offers. What makes this particularly interesting is that Ubisoft was so vehemently against buyouts just a few years back. It appears that Ubisoft is reconsidering its stance after seeing all the deals in the gaming industry that are occurring left and right. Having said that, it doesn’t look like any company is close to buying Ubisoft, which would cost a whopping amount of money - recent market valuations have Ubisoft’s net worth at around $6.24 billion. When asked by an investor why Ubisoft hasn’t had any purchase offers, Duguet and Guillemot did not comment. Instead, the two clarified that the company can “create very meaningful value in the future.” Ubisoft is a massive company that owns some of the most recognizable titles in gaming. Case in point, it’s the long-time developer and publisher of all Tom Clancy games such as Rainbow Six Extraction and The Division: Heartland with iconic franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell, among others, under its belt. However, with Microsoft having already spent more than $75 billion in acquisitions in the past two years, it seems unlikely they would be interesting in acquiring yet another company. Sony probably isn’t in play considering that the console manufacturer appears to be more focused on gobbling up smaller studios to add to its PlayStation Studios banner. Only time will tell if Ubisoft will continue operating as an independent company in the future. However, Guillemot and Duguet weren’t kidding when they said that the company is in a good place financially. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, which sold 12 million units in 2021, is getting its second year of support with the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC update. Meanwhile, fans are also looking forward to a remake of Splinter Cell and a more stealth-oriented Assassin’s Creed installment set to launch sometime later this year or early 2023.
