Aye, should've made it more clear that it was a joke/dumb theoretical question.
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Vivendi ups stake in Ubisoft to 20.1 percent, edges toward takeover
- Thread starter Lime
- Start date
Aye, should've made it more clear that it was a joke/dumb theoretical question.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
After this past e3 I'll be a bit sad to see current ubi go.
My thinking is that Ubisoft would be a lot more receptive to a part acquisition by Nintendo than any of the other big western publishers would be. They're actually probably the best case scenario for Guillemot at the moment, as "port all these games to NX" would probably be pretty much the extent of their meddling in Ubisoft's business, and Ubi have been pretty happy to support Nintendo platforms in the past, anyway. From Nintendo's point of view Ubisoft probably puts out the largest quantity of non-sports AAA games of any western publisher, so it would certainly be beneficial to bolster the NX's line-up with that kind of output.
GraveRobberX
Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.
Can't Viv just gut Ubi whenever they feel like it, if they take over
What I mean is Viv can take Ubi earned money and go spend it on other things or feed it into itself and slowly trim down the fat to a lean Ubisoft and turn it into another Activ/Blizz situation
What I mean is Viv can take Ubi earned money and go spend it on other things or feed it into itself and slowly trim down the fat to a lean Ubisoft and turn it into another Activ/Blizz situation
It's all up to my Canadian government to save Ubisoft. So, RIP Ubisoft.
D
Deleted member 80556
Unconfirmed Member
They might not cancel the big games, but I'm sure they'll cancel games like Valiant Hearts or Child of Light, those games are not as profitable as Assassin's Creed, so they probably won't have any place in a company like Vivendi.
They might even think they're saving up money and being more efficient when laying off those devs, and all!
They might even think they're saving up money and being more efficient when laying off those devs, and all!
You know how people like to pretend that ubisoft does nothing but AC, Far Cry and Watch Dogs, and completely act like their smaller projects and new IP's don't exist?
Yeah, that will be what ubisoft becomes. You will probably not see a new IP from them if the buyout happens.
blame space
Banned
did I ever tell you the definition of insanity
You, sir, are a genius.
Patrice Desilets.
Spring Drive
Banned
Look what remains of Canal Plus now that Vincent Bolloré has taken the reins
Futurematic
Member
So apparently Ubisoft wasn't successful enough to find investors to initiate a buyback with their funds. I hate seeing Vivendi encroaching again on the gaming industry, this means nothing good for us. I also approve of the idea of Nintendo stepping in as a majority shareholder. Not solely on the premise of securing software for the NX but rather increasing their own market share, it will be a valuable investment to have such a power house under your control when the age of dedicated hardware ends and software platform are on the rise.
I don't think anything has changed. Activision is still focusing on short term gains with their yearly franchise games.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
I have not seen anything from Ubisoft in a long time that makes me think a hostile takeover would be actually be a bad thing. May be they would actually stop making the cookie cutter open world crap under new management. The fact the they think The Division is a great model for the future of their company says it all...
OuterLimits
Member
I love the Vivendi response "We aren't trying to do anything here, but of course we might buy some more."
Neuromancer
Member
If every active GAF member bought one Ubisoft share, could we do our own takeover?
They would stop making the stuff that sells tens of millions? Yeah ok, if anything that will get ramped up. They will want their investment back pronto.
D
Deleted member 471617
Unconfirmed Member
Fucking Vivendi.
Ubisoft is my favorite developer and publisher. If Vivendi takes them over, im guessing that they will just shut them down or something else that's bad. Every one out of three games I play is from Ubisoft. Seriously, some other publisher needs to help out Ubisoft and fight off Vivendi.
Ubisoft is my favorite developer and publisher. If Vivendi takes them over, im guessing that they will just shut them down or something else that's bad. Every one out of three games I play is from Ubisoft. Seriously, some other publisher needs to help out Ubisoft and fight off Vivendi.
Spring Drive
Banned
_/¯I can't imagine a universe in which Ubisoft's cost structure is attractive to a first party.
Sony and Nintendo don't spend $100+ million on games on a regular basis (or ever).
Spring Drive
Banned
You know what to do, Amazon
OuterLimits
Member
They do release some unique stuff like Child of Light. Hell, I still play Dawn of Discovery on the Wii at times.
KojiKnight
Member
Vivendi was threatening to dismantle acti-blizz for parts if they couldn't find someone interested in buying everything at once.
TDLink
Member
I like Ubisoft and I don't want to see this happen to them. Yeah they tossed Desilets out on his ass. Yeah they kind of drove the Ass Creed series into the ground with annual releases but they clearly recognize that and are taking a break from it this year. Overall I have appreciated their contributions to the industry more than, say, EA and Activision who seem to regurgitate everything that works for them every single year until the franchise is dead. They have specialized in open world game design now and have become pretty good at it. No other dev is pumping out these kinds of games like Ubi is. And they consistently try new IPs with the formula like The Division (technically Tom Clancy I guess), The Crew, and soon Steep. Plus they have released some great non-open games like South Park and Rayman Legends. For Honor looks to be the next one in that vein. I want them to keep doing what they're doing. Vivendi feels like a cancer.
VibratingDonkey
Member
They better delay these shenanigans until after Beyond Good & Evil 2 is out.
mercenar1e
Member
they cant delay it.
I don't think the poster you're quoting was arguing for majority ownership/takeover of Ubi by Sony or Nintendo, only that those companies (or EA or whatever) would buy enough of Ubi to prevent Vivendi majority ownership.
I don't think that's likely...companies don't really do things like that out of the goodness of their hearts, and Ubisoft is a bit expensive at the moment to buy a big chunk just to secure public goodwill or even to secure Ubi support for the NX. If Ubi is slightly over 3 billion dollars, a, say, 15% share (a pretty aggressive chunk of the company) would be roughly half a billion dollars.
Azure Phoenix
Member
I'm failing to see how Vivendi owning Ubisoft would change anything, for all their crowing about creative freedom Ubisoft relies on it's core IPs and design strategy just as much as all the other big name publishers. From an outside view it just seems that Yves Guillemot is making these threats because he's scared of losing control of his company - and that is his own fault for not owning the majority of the shares.
Spring Drive
Banned
TDLink
Member
I'm clearly not talking about their entire catalog since their inception. The last few years they absolutely have been doing this. The ass creed games, Watch dogs, far cry 3, the crew, the division, wildlands, steep.
By comparison EA and Activision don't seem to be doing anything in the open world space at all except, possibly, Mass Effect Andromeda.
Of course Ubisoft relies heavily on their core IPs, but games like Rayman and Grow Home does get made, and they get made quite frequently. Would they still if Vivendi took over? I know it's easy to picture Yves as a cynical businessman but I can guarantee he's way more interested in gaming as culture than Vincent Bolloré is.
Could anyone summarise the impact of Vivendi on Activision (Blizzard) pre-/post-acquisition and when they bought themselves out?
I been years so my memory isnt that great and while Vivendi arent considered a positive influence have AB been much better without them?
Should colour Ubisofts dismay...
ps3ud0 8)
I been years so my memory isnt that great and while Vivendi arent considered a positive influence have AB been much better without them?
Should colour Ubisofts dismay...
ps3ud0 8)
ShockingAlberto
Member
While I don't think Vivendi is going to shake up Ubisoft particularly strongly (at least from a consumer perspective), I can't help but possess morbid fascination at the creeping way in which they are taking over. First, Gameloft and replacing Guillemot on the board. Now, just inching bit-by-bit with Ubisoft.
It is like watching a snake swallow a rabbit whole over the course of a day.
It is like watching a snake swallow a rabbit whole over the course of a day.
TDLink
Member
Well since Vivendi, Blizzard has diversified from being purely about WoW with now 6 games in different genres with continual free support. On the Activision side Skylanders and Destiny happened.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Does EA still own stock in the company? They've always been wary of EA taking over, but maybe that's on the table now.
StrongBlackVine
Banned
So nothing of value would be lost? Ubisoft has the milkage cranked up to 9 already. Assassin's Creed had become an embarrassment and the only reason they shelved for a year is because the sales finally started to match the quality.
Spring Drive
Banned
Vivendi: Bolloré’s master plan: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c4866724-28a0-11e6-8b18-91555f2f4fde.html
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I bet it'll be the same scenario as Activision-Blizzard. Games that are known for Blizzard will prominently featured their name. Any new IP or existing Vivendi game or any game no so associated with Ubisoft will likely get Vivendi markings.
Can you give a brief summary for those who aren't subscribed.