Ubisoft launches new ‘creative’ house with Tencent, includes multiple Canadian teams

Ubisoft has introduced the launch of Vantage Studios, a brand new “artistic home” overseeing a few of its largest franchises.

This division is the official title of the new Tencent-backed subsidiary Ubisoft originally confirmed in March. As a part of that deal, the Chinese language conglomerate has invested €1.16 billion (about C$1.9 billion) into Vantage, giving it a 25 per cent stake within the division.

The Vantage umbrella will embrace Murderer’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six below the purview of 5 Ubisoft studios: Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke and Saguenay (all in Canada) and Barcelona. As beforehand confirmed, Vantage might be led by Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot, the latter of whom is the son of Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot.

Apparently, Ubisoft claims that Vantage will truly “giv[e] builders extra hands-on management over the video games they’re constructing.” The corporate says the division supplies a “streamlined method” for growth to create a “larger degree of autonomy for builders and a shorter pathway between gathering and implementing participant suggestions, whereas nonetheless providing the advantage of Ubisoft’s experience, providers, instruments, and tech.” Ubisoft says Vantage is a “first step” in its “ongoing transformation” because it plans to type “extra artistic homes” that group its “manufacturers and franchises below the banner of a shared DNA and growth experience.”

It stays to be seen what this can truly imply for Ubisoft’s groups, particularly these in Canada. For context, roughly 2,300 staff from throughout these groups are working at Vantage, according to Eurogamer. It must be famous, nonetheless, that this doesn’t embrace all the employees at these respective groups. As an example, Ubisoft Montreal, the French gaming giant’s largest studio by far, has round 4,000 staff who work on a wide range of titles that aren’t part of Vantage, together with the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake.

Along with growing most of the flagship video games within the Murderer’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six sequence, Ubisoft Montreal can also be behind the likes of Watch Canines, Splinter Cell, For Honor and Little one of Gentle, amongst different titles. In the meantime, Ubisoft Quebec just launched Assassin’s Creed Shadows earlier this year, whereas the Sherbrooke, Saguenay and Barcelona groups present help to numerous Ubisoft titles.

Vantage additionally doesn’t embrace studios like Ubisoft Toronto, which worked on Star Wars Outlaws and is main growth on the Splinter Cell remake, or Sweden’s Huge Leisure, the principle developer of Outlaws and The Division sequence. Given Ubisoft’s speak of “extra artistic homes,” it stays to be seen what, if something, could be carried out with these different studios.

This all comes amid an ever-changing time for Ubisoft. Amid a decline in business, there was hypothesis {that a} main firm would purchase Ubisoft. Tencent, specifically, had reportedly been eyeing a Ubisoft buyout, following its 10 per cent stake within the firm. After all, that might nonetheless occur in some unspecified time in the future, however for now, at the very least, the 2 firms have Vantage.

Ubisoft isn’t the one main gaming firm with Canadian connections on unstable floor. EA introduced earlier this week it was going private as part of a US$55 billion (about C$76.6 billion) acquisition by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund (which already holds practically 10 per cent funding in EA) and the U.S.’ Silver Lake and Affinity Companions. EA owns a number of Canadian studios, and it stays to be seen what impression the transfer can have on these staff.

Picture credit score: Ubisoft

Supply: Ubisoft