The Guillemot family and Tencent Holdings Ltd. are considering starting a new venture using some of the Ubisoft assets, according to a new report.
According to Bloomberg, the two parties are evaluating which assets to include in this new venture and their valuation. If it goes through, this deal would allow Tencent to own a stake in this venture, gain more control of some of Ubisoft's properties, and boost its presence in the video games market outside China considerably. The Guillemot family, on the other hand, would be able to retain control of Ubisoft.
As these deliberations are private, neither Tencent nor Ubisoft have confirmed if the possibility of a new venture is real. A representative for the Chinese company declined to comment on the matter, while a Ubisoft representative only referred to the recent appointment of advisors to review and pursue various options to boost the company's value. As these talks seem to be ongoing, nothing has been decided yet, and it's likely nothing will be decided until some time after the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows, which was recently delayed once again.
Given how much seems to be riding on Assassin's Creed Shadows' success, it was not surprising to learn last week that the game was delayed to March 20th. Being the most ambitious entry in the series to date, Ubisoft co-founder Yves Guillemot said an additional month of development time will allow the involved studios to incorporate the player feedback gathered over the past three months, fully deliver on the game's potential, and finish the year on a strong note.
