Ubisoft is under fire — CEO Yves Guillemot has appointed his son Charlie to run the new subsidiary. It manages stakes in Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry.
The subsidiary was created in cooperation with the Chinese Tencent, which bought 25% of the company’s shares in the above-mentioned franchises. This makes it a strategically important player in the new corporate structure. That’s why the choice of executives raised questions — in particular about Charlie’s role. But Ubisoft does not consider this move to be nepotism, they called it «family continuity».
Insider Gaming has obtained a copy of an official letter that Yves sent to Ubisoft employees. In it, he announced the creation of a new division as part of the company’s reorganization into the so-called «Creative Houses». The first of these entities — a Tencent-backed subsidiary — will be headed by two co-CEOs: Ubisoft veteran Christophe Derenne and Yves’ son Charlie Guillemot.
Christophe Derenne has almost 30 years of experience at Ubisoft, served as the director of Ubisoft North America and played a major role in the development of the Montreal studio. Despite his longevity, Charlie is the one who has the main responsibility for the brands. According to Guillemot Sr., his son will be responsible for game content, brand development, marketing, and commercial performance.
«Charlie brings entrepreneurial spirit, a deep understanding of innovation dynamics, a passion for games that promises to help put players and their expectations at the heart of our approach, and, of course, the family continuity he represents», — the letter of appointment reads.
However, it is this «continuity» that has caused a wave of accusations of nepotism. Inside the company, more and more people are outraged that Charlie — despite his rather modest experience — has been given a strategically important role in the company. Although Ubisoft emphasizes the autonomy of the new division, and Tencent is supposedly only performing an advisory function, the structure itself looks rather unusual. The joint company owns large shares of key IP, and it is managed by a relative of the owner.
In his letter, Yves also hinted that the creation of «Creative Houses» — is only the beginning of a large-scale restructuring. By the end of October, Ubisoft plans to complete a full reorganization, which involves the transfer of responsibility for game design and development to separate autonomous units.
Everything is happening against the backdrop of the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which was not an undeniable failurebut has minimal chances of becoming «Game of the Year 2025». In addition, a number of other previous projects have faced difficulties and criticism. Because of these problems the company’s shares fell to a record low — these figures were more than 10 years ago.
Source: Insider Gaming
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