As I’ve noted in the past, the video game industry is one that is almost always in a state of flux. Usually this would be a reference to how things are in terms of employees. As they move around, get promotions, or retire. But sometimes, it’s the companies themselves that change. Some close, some branch off and make new studios, and some get bought out or brought under a specific publishers banner. Usually, this happens to smaller studios, but Ubisoft almost got acquired itself recently.
The company has been in a fight for years as the global company Vivendi was trying to buy it out and bring it under their banner. Ubisoft fought back, hard, as they wanted no part of this. And now, Vivendi has conceded defeat:
“Vivendi is no longer a Ubisoft shareholder and maintains its commitment to refrain from purchasing Ubisoft shares for a period of five years,” Vivendi said in a statement.“Vivendi, which already owns Gameloft, a global leader in mobile video games, confirms its intention to continue to strengthen its position in the video games sector.”
Usually, hostile takeovers like this don’t happen in the video game industry, as amicable terms can often be met, or amicable separations can happen. But here, Ubisoft did not want anything that Vivendi was offering, and Vivendi was willing to go through a lot to try and get the company. So it was a tense period for both companies for sure.
It’s a good win for Ubisoft as well, as they’ve been on quite the roll as of late with many of their titles. Their last two Assassin’s Creed games were major hits, they’re getting ready to launch The Division 2, which is said to be even better than the last one, and they’ve got other titles in the works that’ll please fans as well like Beyond Good & Evil 2.
