According to a leak, Ubisoft is looking to be sold and could be the target of Sony's next big acquisition.
Times are tough for my favorite Canadians, Ubisoft. Sure, we all got tired of Assassin's Creed 21 and Far Cry 37, but the state of Ubisoft seems to be more dire than their absolute reluctance in making anything truly creative suggested. According to new reports by Kotaku and Bloomberg, Ubisoft is looking to be bought out by a bigger company, opening the door for an acquisition by an industry behemoth like Sony or Microsoft.
There's a catch, though, because it seems that the likelihood of Sony (or, of course, Microsoft) purchasing Ubisoft is pretty low. After Ubisoft got similar accusations as Activision Blizzard last year, their stock price hasn't been the best for a while. This is both a good and a bad sign for the company.
On one hand, investors would be able to pick up Ubisoft for a deflated price of what they would have otherwise paid. On the other hand, though, the company now comes with a bunch of baggage and its games have not been performing particularly well these last couple of years either.
Will Sony Buy Ubisoft?
Sony could certainly buy Ubisoft, but it seems rather unlikely at this stage. According to anonymous sources speaking with Bloomberg, multiple private equity firms have been studying Ubisoft and considering their options for a potential purchase, but Ubisoft hasn't entered any serious negotiations.
Several private equity firms including Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. have been studying the French business... Ubisoft hasn't entered into any serious negotiations with potential acquirers, and it's unclear whether its major shareholder is willing to pursue a deal.
The Bloomberg report said that Ubisoft Entertainment was attracting "preliminary takeover interest" but was not at the stage where a takeover would be imminent. What does that mean for us dummies? If it were to happen, it probably won't be happenin' soon.
"[Bobby Kotick's ex] said she informed Kotick their relationship was over because of what she said was his bullying and controlling nature. He then showed up at her Los Angeles home uninvited and tried to get in, prompting her to call the police, according to the declaration." https://t.co/eRAcDZEjGw
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) April 21, 2022
Claims made by Bloomberg have also been backed up by a report published on April 23 by Kotaku that claimed sources close to Ubisoft were confirming that the company will "eventually sell". We doubt that if Ubisoft was picked up by someone it would be one of the big three (Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) as they do not seem interested in selling anytime soon.
Realistically, Ubisoft will need to fix its many problems before prospective buyers will be truly interested in launching a takeover. Reports of mass employee walk-outs and workplace abuse have been published across the game's media repeatedly over the last couple of years. This will, at the very least, need to change. Well... you would think... Microsoft did buy Activision Blizzard, despite those sex discrimination allegations... Who knows...