Tencent bought it for 9 billion.

The dust has settled.

Recently, game giant Ubisoft announced that Tencent's strategic investment in a Ubisoft subsidiary has been completed, amounting to 1.16 billion euros (approximately 9 billion yuan).

Players must be no strangers to Ubisoft - it created "The Leap of Faith" in Assassin's Creed, the party dance game Just Dance, and Far Cry, which revolutionized shooting games. Since its establishment in France in 1986 by the Guillemot brothers, Ubisoft has, with a series of highly recognizable AAA titles, been affectionately and playfully called "Big Brother Ubisoft" by players.

However, the former console game giant is no longer in its prime. At a critical moment, old friend Tencent stepped in again.

Tencent Arrives, Completes a 9 - Billion - Yuan Investment

More details have been revealed.

In October this year, the newly established subsidiary Vantage Studios officially started operations. It will focus on three core Ubisoft IPs: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, with the goal of accelerating these three series towards becoming "brands with annual revenues of one billion euros". It is understood that this subsidiary is jointly managed by Charlie Guillemot, the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, and another executive.

According to the agreement reached between the two parties, Tencent will inject 1.16 billion euros into Vantage Studios and acquire approximately 26% of the shares. The valuation of this subsidiary is 3.8 billion euros, while Ubisoft will retain exclusive control of the subsidiary.

The agreement shows that unless Ubisoft loses control, Tencent's shares in Vantage must be locked in for five years. Ubisoft has promised to maintain control for at least two years. If Ubisoft's ownership changes in a transaction approved by the board, the company can repurchase Tencent's shares at the market price. If Ubisoft refuses, Tencent can force a sale.

The announcement points out that Vantage Studios is not a one - time experiment between Ubisoft and Tencent. In the future, more studios will be established to accommodate other game brands and series IPs owned by Ubisoft.

Domestic players are no strangers to Ubisoft. In 1986, the Guillemot brothers founded Ubisoft. Along the way, with its high - quality console games, it has been regarded as "Big Brother Ubisoft" by players.

The most influential one is Assassin's Creed. The first installment sold more than 10 million copies within a year, and the total series sales have exceeded 200 million copies. Hidden under the hood, climbing up the tower, overlooking the highly - realistic ancient city, and then performing the classic Leap of Faith, this unprecedented open - world game conquered players around the world. It even appeared at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, becoming a cultural memory for generations.

Just as the news was announced, Ubisoft released its latest financial report. In the first half of the 2025 - 2026 fiscal year, the total net bookings increased by 20.3% year - on - year, reaching approximately 770 million euros. Ubisoft attributed this performance to the better - than - expected partner revenues and the strong performance of Assassin's Creed and The Division, which offset the weakness of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. However, during the reporting period, the net loss was approximately 161.3 million euros.

Actually, as early as March this year, Ubisoft officially announced this strategic investment, and now the deal is finally finalized. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said, "The transaction with Tencent marks a crucial turning point in Ubisoft's transformation. The injection of 1.16 billion euros will significantly optimize the group's financial situation. The newly established Vantage Studios will drive the continuous growth of the IP under the leadership of a professional team."

Previously, Tencent President Martin Lau said about this investment, "We are very pleased to expand our long - term partnership with Ubisoft through this investment. This reflects our continued confidence in Ubisoft's creative vision and outstanding talents, who will continue to drive the industry's continuous success."

Inspiration for Going Global: Chinese Games Set Sail for the Stars and the Sea

Tencent has stepped in again.

As early as 2015, French consortium Vivendi attempted a hostile takeover of Ubisoft. First, it acquired Ubisoft's mobile game company Gameloft. Within a year, it held more than 20% of Ubisoft's shares, and by March 2018, its equity had reached 27.3%, becoming the largest shareholder.

Ubisoft President and Chairman Yves Guillemot publicly opposed it many times, saying that Vivendi didn't understand games and would lead the company astray. "We want to remain independent forever and don't want to board a ship that is doomed to sink."

Unexpectedly, Tencent became the white knight. Together with Ubisoft, the Guillemot family, and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, they spent 2 billion euros to buy Ubisoft shares from Vivendi. After that, Tencent increased its stake several times. As of March last year, Tencent directly held 9.986% of Ubisoft's equity and indirectly held 7.485%.

Time has changed, and the former game giant has hit rock bottom. In recent years, Ubisoft has been in turmoil. High - profile works have failed one after another, and there have been no more blockbusters. The stock price has been falling and once reached an all - time low. As early as last year, there were reports that Tencent was discussing a possible privatization deal with the Guillemot family, the founders of Ubisoft. In January this year, there were reports that Ubisoft was looking for an investor to establish a new company.

This time, Tencent gave Ubisoft a hand again. It is worth noting that Tencent's injection of approximately 1.16 billion euros is even higher than Ubisoft's current total market value of less than 1 billion euros.

Looking back at Tencent's overseas game layout, its investment pace has not stopped. As early as 2011, Tencent acquired Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, for approximately $400 million. League of Legends quickly became one of the highest - grossing PC games globally. The following year, Tencent acquired a 40% stake in Epic Games for $300 million.

The big move came in 2016. Tencent announced the acquisition of an 84.3% stake in Supercell, the developer of Clash of Clans, for $8.6 billion, setting the highest acquisition record for a global game company that year. In 2024, Tencent subsidiary Miniclip acquired Easybrain for $1.2 billion. According to incomplete statistics, in the past 20 years, Tencent has made nearly 100 overseas game investments.

The results are already evident. Tencent's Q3 2025 financial report shows that the game business continued to grow strongly, with a total revenue of 63.6 billion yuan. Among them, the international game revenue was 20.8 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 43%, mainly benefiting from the revenue growth of Supercell's games, the sales performance of the newly launched Dying Light: Bad Blood, and the revenue contribution of recently acquired game studios.

At the beginning of this year, Tencent Board Chairman and CEO Pony Ma said at the company's all - hands meeting that going global already accounts for a large proportion of Tencent's game business, approaching half of the domestic game business. In the future, the overseas game business has greater growth potential, and the company will increase its investment.

Interestingly, while Big Brother Ubisoft is struggling, Chinese game IPs are booming globally. Remember in August last year, Black Myth: Wukong, the first domestic AAA game, was launched, breaking records one after another and becoming a milestone in the Chinese game industry.

Chinese games are going global, and European and American game giants are moving closer to China. The drama in the game industry is slowly unfolding.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Investment World" (ID: pedaily2012), author: Wang Lu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.