But of course they would, that’s just business

Right now, every big games company’s shareholders have two questions: 1) can we get rich off NFTs? 2) can we get rich being bought by a larger company? Well, Ubisoft have madetheir stupid-ass stance on NFTsquite clear, so let’s move on to question two. In a recent financial conference call, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said they think they’re good to stand independent, but if someone had a juicy offer, well, they might think about it. But that’s a noncommittal business answer, really, just business as usual.

The question of acquisition came up yesterday in a conference call for investors and analysts, which accompanied the release of Ubisoft’s latest quaterly financial results (overheard byIan Games Network). Someone asked, so they answered.

“We have always taken our decisions in the interest of our stakeholders, which are our employees, players, and shareholders,” Yves Guillemot said. “So Ubisoft can remain independent. We have the talent, the industrial and the financial scale, and a large portfolio of powerful IPs [. . .] sought after by the biggest global players in entertainment and tech.” Case for independence: made. Unless someone has a better offer.

“Having said that,” he continued, “if there were an offer to buy us, the board of directors would of course review it in the interest of all stakeholders.”

Honestly, I wouldn’t read much into it. This is Guillemot telling investors, hey we think we’re going to make money for you as is, though if the opportunity arose we would consider whether that would make more money for you. Then investors go away happy at the mention of money. Still, I suppose you might consider it a slightly softer stance than their prior independent spirit.

For reference, Activision Blizzard’s valuation by market cap was $51 billion right before Microsoft announced their plan tobuy Actiblizz for $69 billion. On that scale, Ubisoft look tiny with a market cap of $6-7-ish billion. Microsoft could accidentally buy Ubisoft by misclicking on Amazon and not even realise until Yves Guillemot was dumped on their doorstep in a cardboard box.