After Gobbling Two Publishers, Now Xbox Has Been Sniffing Around Ubisoft’s IP

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Microsoft has invested nearly $100 billion on acquiring intellectual properties from third-party publishers and developers over recent years, and it looks like they are now interested in Ubisoft’s proprietary assets as well.

A disgruntled shareholder of the embattled French firm recently accused the company of failing to disclose “discussions between Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft”.

Juraj Krúpa, the irritated investor in question, alleged that the conversations were shared in a “a restricted article published by business investment platform MergerMarket”, and that neither shareholders nor the public were informed.

Ubisoft has since issued a statement to IGN revealing that it continues to review “various strategic and capitalistic options going forward”.

In a Bloomberg article since, it’s claimed the publisher could spin some of its biggest franchises off into a new company, with Chinese juggernaut Tencent – which already owns almost 10% of the French firm – potentially lined up to invest.

Over the last five years, the stock price of Ubisoft has significantly decreased, and they’ve faced a string of costly flops, such as the inadequately developed Star Wars Outlaws, which had disappointing sales when it was released last year.

Given the latest information, it seems Microsoft’s alleged interest in Ubisoft’s IPs was perhaps speculative rather than concrete, and with Xbox now committed to bringing its entire lineup to the PS5, it likely wouldn’t change much even if it did open up its chequebook again.

To put it simply, we’re optimistic that the French publishing house will manage the current challenges, as it’s a significant player in our industry. Despite some valid criticism directed towards the company, its absence would undeniably leave a gap that wouldn’t be easily filled, given the quality of their games.

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2025-03-16 18:37