Ubisoft Entertainment SA ([4] formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include Anno, Assassin's Creed, Driver, Far Cry, Just Dance, Prince of Persia, Rabbids, Rayman, Tom Clancy's, and Watch Dogs.
Ubisoft is led by chairman and CEO Yves Guillemot. The company first achieved commercial and critical success with its 1995 platform game Rayman. In 1996, the company began to expand to other parts of the world, opening studios in Shanghai, Montreal and Milan. In recent years, Ubisoft has struggled financially, reporting a strong decline in revenue in 2024 and laying off 700 employees in 2025.[5][6][7]
History
Origins and first decade (1986–1996)
By the 1980s, the Guillemot family had established themselves as a support business for farmers in the Brittany province of France and other regions, including the United Kingdom. The five sons of the family – Christian, Claude, Gérard, Michel, and Yves – helped with the company's sales, distribution, accounting, and management with their parents before university.
All five gained business experience while at university, which they brought back to the family business after graduating. The brothers came up with the idea of diversification to sell other agricultural products; Claude began by selling CD audio media. Later, the brothers expanded to computers and additional software that included video games.[8]
In the 1980s, they noticed that the costs of buying computers and software from a French supplier were higher than buying the same materials in the United Kingdom and shipping them to France. They developed the idea of a mail-order business for computers and software. Their mother agreed they could start their own business as long as they managed it themselves and split its shares equally among the five of them.
Their first business was Guillemot Informatique, founded in 1984.[9]
Subsidiaries
Former
Technology
Ubisoft Connect
Ubisoft Connect, formerly Uplay, is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications service for PC created by Ubisoft. First launched alongside Assassin's Creed II as a rewards program to earn points towards in-game content for completing achievements within Ubisoft, it expanded into a desktop client and storefront for Windows machine alongside other features. Ubisoft then separated the rewards program out as its Ubisoft Club program, integrated with Uplay. Ubisoft Connect was announced in October 2020 as a replacement for UPlay and its Ubisoft Club to launch on 29 October 2020 alongside Watch Dogs: Legion. Connect replaces UPlay and the club's previous functions while adding support for cross-platform play and save progression for some games. It includes the same reward progression system that the Club offered to gain access to in-game content.[172] Some games on the UPlay service will not be updated to support these reward features that they previously had under the Ubisoft Club; for those, Ubisoft will unlock all rewards for all players.[173]
Uplay/Ubisoft Connect serves to manage the digital rights for Ubisoft's games on Windows computers, which has led to criticism when it was first launched, as some games required always-on digital rights management
Games
According to Guillemot, Ubisoft recognised that connected sandbox games, with seamless switches between single and multiplayer modes provided the players with more fun, leading the company to switch from pursuing single-player only games to internet connected ones.[225] According to Guillemot, Ubisoft internally refers to its reimagined self as 'before The Division and an 'after The Division.[225]
In an interview with The Verge, Anne Blondel-Jouin, executive producer of The Crew turned vice-president of live operations,[225][226] noted that The Crew was an early game of Ubisoft's to require a persistent internet connection in order to play.[225] This raised concerns for gamers and internally at the company.[225]
Film and television
In 1999, 12 years before the founding of Ubisoft Film & Television, a 3D animated Rayman series known as Rayman: The Animated Series was produced to help promote Rayman 2: The Great Escape, which was released the same year. The series was produced in-house by Ubisoft. In 2011, Ubisoft initiated its Ubisoft Film & Television division (then named Ubisoft Motion Pictures). Initially developing media works tied to Ubisoft's games, it has since diversified to other works including about video games. Productions include the live-action film Assassin's Creed (2016) and the series Rabbids Invasion (2013–2022) and Mythic Quest (2020–2025).
Litigation
2020 sexual misconduct accusations and dismissals
Other lawsuits
- In 2008, Ubisoft sued Optical Experts Manufacturing (OEM), a DVD duplication company for $25 million plus damages for the leak and distribution of the PC version of Assassin's Creed. The lawsuit claims that OEM did not take proper measures to protect its product as stated in its contract with Ubisoft. The complaint alleges that OEM admitted to all the problems in the complaint.[227]
- In April 2012, Ubisoft was sued by John L. Beiswenger, the author of the book Link who alleged copyright infringement for using his ideas in the Assassin's Creed franchise. He demanded $5.25 million in damages and a halt to the release of Assassin's Creed III which was set to be released in October 2012, along with any future games that allegedly contain his ideas.[228] On 30 May 2012, Beiswenger dropped the lawsuit. Beiswenger was later quoted as saying he believes "authors should vigorously defend their rights in their creative works", and suggested that Ubisoft's motion to block future lawsuits from Beiswenger hints at its guilt.
External links
References
- Tamoor Hussain. Ubisoft Has A New Logo GameSpot, 31 May 2017, retrieved 4 June 2017^
- Ubisoft Worldwide HQ Ubisoft, retrieved 22 May 2022^
- Ubisoft FY25 Earnings