Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company currently has three options regarding whether or not it remains independent.
When asked what the probability of an EA takeover is at present, Guillemot replied, "I don't know. I think we are in a creative business so it will certainly need to be done with our collaboration, but it's a question I can't answer."
He went on to observe that there are three choices for Ubisoft at present, stating, "The first option, and the one we prefer, is to remain independent and execute on our plan to double our turnaround and triple our profit in the next four years.
"The second is to work within an entertainment group, so we could be the videogame part of an entertainment company, and the third is to merge with other publishers to create a bigger group within the industry."
Guillemot confirmed that Ubisoft executives "speak regularly with lots of people" about possible deals, but declined to offer any specific comment about current negotiations.
The new unit comprises over 500 developers representing the entire World of Warcraft development team.
I used to be anti-union, it kills productivity, investment and turns product mediocre. Their games suck anyways though so what was lost? Might as well get their people paid until they are dissolved.
Unions are necessary regardless of how you feel. You know how fked the working class would be without them. As if we're not already.
No they aren’t, regardless of how you feel. Unions make zero sense for skill based labor. They are for people who press a button every 10 seconds on an assembly line. “working class” is a made up term. I don’t care about corporations or developers, I just want good games lol. Killing your incentives to appease the lowest common denominator doesn’t lead to great games imo
I wasn’t trying to be offensive if I came off that way. The Union is an old mentality and I can see their usefulness but also the danger. We’re in the age of AI and robots and skill based labor. Unions can be dangerous these days. You could replace your entire workforce in one move. Checkmate. Look to the kiosk replacing workers in the 20 dollar minimum wage era.
Well run businesses don’t need unions. If you need a Union that business won’t survive anyway. Unless it’s propped up by the government with corporate welfare (which is the real issue). If you’re not going to spend some on your workers (Amazon, Google) then your welfare is cut off. No tax breaks. All you put together don’t match their wealth and resources, the union is a traditional memory at this point and counterproductive with this new enemy we face. They need a flying elbow from the top ropes. And by “working class is a made up term” I just mean we’re not a class system and even CEO Bobby Kotick puts in a days work lol. Or did.. It’s just a vague term that doesn’t mean anything no offense lol. People say “middle class” but that can change quick right? Up or down. That’s not a “class system”.
Modders have cooked up something pretty special – a Wii console which is small enough to fit on your keys. A wee Wii.
Another studio has held layoffs, this time its Humble Games letting go of its entire QA team according to social media posts.
They will rehire cheaper labor during the restructuring. The stupid thing is that they are struggling and the first thing they do is lower the quality.
do not join with ea. unless of course you want to begin to put out titles with no advancement, same ol same ol, or with features that were done 8 years ago on the dreamcast and act like they are innovative. if not for the popularity of ncaa football and fight night, and the fact that people actually still think madden is a good game, ea would be null and void. don't do it ubi. madden, downhill. nba live, downhill. march madness, downhill. they continue to get worse every year, and they will try to do the same to you. i know i don't want ea to have anything to do with splinter cell and ghost recon. PLEASE!!!
...if EA acquired Ubisoft. You only need to see the mediocrity that they've produced with other exclusive franchises, to realize how bad it would be for gaming if this happened. Pretty much every sports title (FNR3 is awesome), ALL of their comic-book related titles, and cross-platform ports that could've been MUCH better as Next-gen exclusives (The Godfather, namely) prove that EA is more about $$ and less about quality games.
I hope Microsoft Game Studios aquires then instead of EA. The bad part of that is no more UBI games for Nintendo or Sony but it will be 1 massive move for microsoft. I know Microsoft has the cash for it, the exec just have to see if it's possible.
As of right now sony studios is about the same size as microsoft game studios and nintendo studios put together. A microsoft buyout of ubisoft would surely make microsoft the big gun in the industry, maybe even pissing off EA. Think about it have exclusive rights to GRAW, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, Far Cry, Assassin's would be huge.
If Microsoft were to buy Ubi it would be a master stroke for them. The Ubisoft catalog reads like a whats what in gaming. Prince of Persia, Rainbow, Ghost Recon, Rayman, Assasins Creed etc etc etc.
Screw EA. The more I play EA games, the more I hate them. EA should hurry up and die. Every studio swallowed up by them experiences talent drain like there is no tomorrow.
MS BUY UBI.... it is 10 fold better investment when compared to Rare!!
i agree with all of you.but the best way to make ea think is to stop buying there games.like i have.