It just “wouldn’t be the same” if Vivendi took over Ubisoft

Say what you like about Ubisoft, but amidst their bigger budgeted releases are numerous other games which other publishers wouldn’t dare greenlight or even fund. I’m talking small masterpieces, such as Valiant Hearts or Child of Light. Thanks to the fact that Ubisoft is an independent studio, they’ve got the leverage to make titles like the aforementioned a reality, titles which big publishers usually pass on.

And if Vivendi takes over, it’s that very spirit of independence that’ll most likely be eroded in the most hostile of corporate takeovers. “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 risks and inventing new stuff, well it’s not going to be the same Ubisoft–for me, it wouldn’t be the same,” Ubisoft’s vice president of live operations Anne Blondel said in an interview with PCGamesN.

I know what made us so successful for 30 years, is being super independent, being very autonomous. Sometimes we take a lot of risks, 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.

And that’s the dream, isn’t it? To not only create games, but to be successful enough to set your own terms and tackle any project that you think has the potential to be a critical hit. Vivendi’s takeover has been in the works for many months, with Ubisoft fighting back tooth and nail to maintain independent and keep the business in the Guillemot family. It’s a battle of shares right now, with neither side willing to back down.

But at least with this battle, Ubisoft has won the war of hearts and minds as its fans are clearly behind the Guillemots.  In other Ubinews, the developer and publisher has begun its 30 Days of Giveaways events in the build-up to Christmas. Here’s the entire leaked list already, because we Ubi-love stuff like this.

Last Updated: November 25, 2016