Ubisoft could soon be delisted from the stock exchange

A solution now appears to be on the horizon for games manufacturer Ubisoft, which has been in financial difficulties for months. As the news agency Reuters reports, the Guillemot family, which owns the company, and existing investors are negotiating how the company could be delisted from the stock exchange. Ubisoft would then be back in private hands and no longer subject to pressure from shareholders. However, the ownership structure is complicated.

According to the report, the Guillemot family, which currently holds the majority, wants to retain control of the company. The second-largest owner in terms of share volume, the Chinese company Tencent, currently holds just under 10 percent of the shares and is said to be sympathetic to the plans. An increase in Tencent's stake is also currently being discussed, several anonymous sources are said to have told Reuters. The agency had already reported on possible changes at Ubisoft in October 2024. This led to short-term gains in the share price of over 30 percent, and the share price is now rising again. Initially up around 15 percent, but this weakened again at the weekend.

Share price rises again in the short term

Shareholders are hoping for the highest possible share price in the event that they are paid out. Overall, however, Ubisoft shares have lost over 40 percent of their value so far in 2024. The company told Reuters that it is continuing to examine all options – The same statement was also made in October. The company has not denied the alleged plans for privatization.

Not only on the stock market, but also in terms of products, things are currently anything but smooth sailing for the French company. A few days ago, the free-to-play shooter "Xdefiant" was taken off the market after just six months and the associated team was dissolved, with 300 employees being made redundant as a result. The next big hope is "Assassin's Creed Shadows", which is now due to be released on February 14, 2025 after being postponed by three months.

"Assassin's Creed Shadows" only with Denuvo and Ubisoft account for PCs

On the product page on Steam, Ubisoft has now announced that the game will be equipped with the controversial Denuvo copy protection, just like some of its predecessors. In addition, even if the game is purchased via Steam, a Ubisoft account is also required and presumably a corresponding launcher. These two new features are being discussed very critically by players in the Steam forums and elsewhere.

"Assassin's Creed Shadows" is set in feudal Japan in the 16th century and, like the titles "Valhalla" and "Odyssey", is set to be an open-world role-playing game. In an initial announcement, Ubisoft spoke of a "huge world" in which the player will be able to romp around with two protagonists of equal status. The few gameplay trailers show impressive graphics, but still little about the role-playing elements and the story of the title. Ubisoft has also not yet commented on the hardware requirements or the price of the game after the postponement. For example, "Call of Duty: Black Ops 6" was recently released at a starting price of 80 euros on Steam, which was previously more common for console versions. During the Black Friday offers, however, the game quickly became cheaper for both PC and console. "Assassin's Creed Shadows" is to be released simultaneously for Windows PCs, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.

(nie)