Vivendi has been trying to take over Ubisoft for some time, and the French publisher is trying everything to prevent this from happening, as it wouldn't be the same company if Vivendi would indeed succeed in taking over. In a recent interview, however, Gameloft's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Roussel, revealed that the bid may be dropped in the future.
Speaking with Le Figaro, Roussel talked about the Ubisoft take over bid, noting how acquiring the French publisher would be the most natural solution for Vivendi desire to assert a bigger presence in the video games industry, as Gameloft is too small for this. At the same time, Roussel talked how the whole matter isn't "Ubisoft or nothing", as the company has been talking with other actors and it may drop the Ubisoft bid if another bid costing more 1 billion Euros gets pursued.
As already mentioned, Ubisoft is doing everything to prevent the Vivendi takeover. Back in November, Ubisoft's VP of live operations, Anne Blondel, noted how the company just wouldn't be the same if Vivendi took over.
The thought I have is that I have been [here], with Ubisoft, for 20 years, and I know what made us so successful for 30 years, is being super independent, being very autonomous. [On] sales, well sometimes we take a lot of risk, you think about The Crew, that was a risk. People would look at that like, ‘maybe it’s not going to work, another racing game, what are you thinking?’ Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, all those kinds of titles.
I think that’s what makes Ubisoft so different, and personally speaking, I think this is what we are. This is what we want to remain, it’s what has made us successful and been able to deliver the type of games we’ve been delivering for 30 years.
So far so good, I would say, because gamers are still [with us] and I know for a fact, having been there for 20 years, that if you [separate] us from our independence, if you take away the way we like taking risk and inventing new stuff, well it’s not going to be the same Ubisoft – for me, it wouldn’t be the same.
About the author: Francesco De Meo has been covering video games and technology since 2012, starting his career at small outlets like Gamersyndrome and GeekSnack. After joining Wccftech gaming section in 2015, he quickly expanded his video gaming coverage with in-depth reporting, interviews with iconic industry figures such as Grasshopper Manufacture founder and No More Heroes creator Goichi "Suda51" Suda, Resident Evil series creator Shinji Mikami, Team NINJA's president and Nioh series director Fumihiko Yasuda, and Silent Hill creator Keiichiro Toyama, reviews and on-the-ground coverage of major industry events such as Gamescom and E3. When he's not reporting or reviewing, Francesco can be found playing the genres he loves most, spending time with his six cats, reading, writing music, playing guitar and drumming for his progressive rock band.
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