Tom Phillips
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Ubisoft's three biggest franchises — Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six — are now run by Vantage Studios, the newly-named separate business entity formed by Ubisoft with a 25% stake from Chinese giant Tencent.
The Vantage Studios name was shared internally today, the first official day of the business' operation, after having been voted upon by the group's 2,300 employees, IGN understands.
Dubbed as the first Ubisoft 'Creative House,' Vantage Studios will run its three franchises with what employees within the company's Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia studios have been told is complete creative and business control.
As previously announced, Vantage Studios will be led by co-CEOs Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot. The move comes ahead of Ubisoft's upcoming €1.16 billion (~$1.25 billion) deal with Tencent being completed.
The past few years have been tough for Ubisoft. Aside from the successful launch of Assassin's Creed Shadows, the company has otherwise suffered a number of high-profile flops, layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations, and there is enormous pressure on it to succeed after the company's share price hit an historic low.
The Assassin's Creed franchise is, as ever, enjoying a bustling period of releases, with the first expansion for Assassin's Creed Shadows launched last month, and Saudi Arabia-funded DLC for Assassin's Creed Mirage coming soon. A highly-anticipated remake of pirate entry Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remains unannounced, but is widely expected to arrive in the not-too-distant future.
Ubisoft's ongoing support for Rainbow Six Siege aside, less is known of the company's other immediate plans, though a major new entry in the Far Cry series has reportedly been brewing for some time.
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social