Ubisoft's Situation Is Even Worse Than You Think.

Summary

Ubisoft faces a financial crisis with its stock plummeting, leading to a shareholder revolt and a strategic overhaul. The company abandons exploitative business models like paid advanced access and season passes, focusing on player-friendly strategies. CEO Yves Guillemot emphasizes a player-centric approach and long-term brand value. Amidst this, Ubisoft delays 'Assassin's Creed: Shadows' for further polish, reflecting on the underperformance of 'Star Wars Outlaws'. The company's future hinges on increasing day-one sales, cutting costs, and potentially a leveraged buyout, as activist investors eye taking Ubisoft private for greater control and turnaround.

Takeaways

• 📉 Ubisoft's stock has plummeted significantly, with a 60% drop year-to-date, 47% drop month-over-month, and a 20% drop in a single day.
• 🔍 An internal shareholder revolt led by an activist investor is pressuring Ubisoft to make major changes, including leveraging EU law for more control and long-term vision.
• 🏭 CEO Yves Guillemot is under immense pressure to defend the family business and address the company's financial struggles.
• 🎮 Ubisoft is overhauling its business model, ending paid advanced access and season passes, and changing its PC platform strategy.
• 🚫 The company is moving away from controversial practices like psychological forceful revenue optimization and focusing on player-friendly strategies.
• 🌐 Ubisoft games will now be available on Steam, which is a positive move for consumers and a shift from their previous resistance to platform fees.
• 📅 The delay of 'Assassin's Creed: Shadows' and the underperformance of 'Star Wars Outlaws' have led to a reevaluation of Ubisoft's release and content strategy.
• 💸 The cancellation and refund of pre-orders for 'Shadows' indicate a significant change in Ubisoft's approach to game releases and player expectations.
• 🔄 The narrative shift towards player-centric gameplay and long-term brand value is a strategic response to the financial crisis and shareholder pressure.
• 🔮 Looking ahead, Ubisoft aims to increase average sale price through day one sales, improve player experience, and set franchises up for long-term success.

Q & A

What caused Ubisoft to slash their financial targets and experience a significant drop in stock prices?

Ubisoft's stock dropped due to a combination of weak financial performance, an internal shareholder revolt, and underperforming game releases like 'Star Wars Outlaws.' The pressure from an activist investor, who criticized the deal between Ubisoft’s CEO and Tencent, also contributed to the company's financial decline.

What is the main issue raised by the activist investor regarding Ubisoft's management?

The activist investor is concerned that Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, and the Tencent deal give too much control to the company's leadership, which they argue is unfair to minority shareholders. They want to use EU law to crack open the company's structure, seek more control, and push for long-term strategic changes.

How has Ubisoft's business model changed according to the video?

Ubisoft is moving away from practices like paid advanced access, season passes, and delaying Steam releases. The company is shifting toward a more player-friendly model, focusing on delivering polished games and a better overall experience.

What effect has 'Star Wars Outlaws' had on Ubisoft's current situation?

'Star Wars Outlaws' underperformed both in sales and reception, which led to Ubisoft reevaluating its future content plans for the game. The game's launch was plagued by minor issues and a lack of polish, causing many players to drop off early.

Why is Ubisoft making player-friendly changes to its business model?

Ubisoft is making these changes out of sheer desperation to turn things around. Their financial situation is dire, and they need to win back players by providing better value and eliminating unpopular practices like season passes and advanced access.

What are some of the specific changes Ubisoft is implementing to address player feedback?

Ubisoft is cancelling season passes, advanced access, and paid expansions. Instead, they are offering free expansions to pre-order customers and focusing on improving the game’s quality of life through patches, aiming to release more polished games from day one.

What role does Assassin’s Creed play in Ubisoft's future strategy?

Assassin’s Creed is Ubisoft’s flagship franchise, and the success of future titles like 'Shadows' is crucial for the company’s survival. If Assassin’s Creed fails, it could spell disaster for Ubisoft, as other major franchises like Far Cry and Ghost Recon have already declined.

How are weak sales and a soft reception for 'Star Wars Outlaws' affecting Ubisoft’s decision-making?

The weak performance of 'Star Wars Outlaws' has led Ubisoft to reconsider their future content investment for the game. They are hesitant to pour more money into DLC if the base game is underperforming. However, they plan to release patches and a first expansion to boost the game's longevity.

What are Ubisoft's long-term strategies to improve their financial situation?

Ubisoft plans to focus on increasing the average sale price by offering better day-one incentives, releasing games on Steam from the start, and shifting toward more player-friendly practices. They are also addressing player feedback to release more polished games.

What is the potential impact of the shareholder revolt on Ubisoft’s future?

The shareholder revolt, led by an activist investor, could lead to significant changes in Ubisoft’s management and business strategy. The investor is pushing for a strategy similar to Activision's, focusing on core franchises and cutting costs by eliminating non-essential projects and studios.

Outlines

00:00

📉 Ubisoft's Financial Downfall and Internal Conflict

Ubisoft is facing a financial crisis, with their stock dropping drastically from 94 EUR to 9.2 EUR, due to a tumultuous period of poor performance. Shareholders, led by an activist investor, are rebelling against CEO Yves Guillemot and a deal with Tencent that grants majority control to the Guillemot family. The activist investor wants to crack open the company using EU laws, pushing for major reforms. The pressure on Guillemot has resulted in Ubisoft making drastic changes to its business strategy, which include giving players what they want and eliminating unfavorable business models like paid advanced access and season passes.

05:01

🎮 Major Changes in Ubisoft’s Business Strategy

Ubisoft has overhauled its business model, abandoning unpopular practices such as paid advanced access and season passes, and now releasing games on Steam immediately, rather than with delayed launches. These changes represent an attempt to win back consumer trust by eliminating practices that were seen as exploitative. The move to Steam is particularly notable, as Ubisoft's previous strategy of pushing their proprietary Uplay platform had backfired. The company is now trying to create competition through fairer consumer practices, but these changes highlight the internal desperation caused by Ubisoft's struggles, particularly in light of delays and issues with key games like Assassin's Creed: Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws.

10:01

🤔 Star Wars Outlaws' Mixed Reception and Lessons for Ubisoft

Star Wars Outlaws has underperformed, despite initial strong pre-orders. Minor but impactful issues, like poor stealth mechanics, led to a negative reception that has significantly affected player engagement. Ubisoft is learning from these mistakes, postponing the release of Assassin's Creed: Shadows to apply more polish. They've canceled all pre-orders and refunded customers, removing features like season passes and advanced access, which previously inflated game prices through psychological manipulation (Goldilocks Effect). Ubisoft is now offering the first expansion for free to pre-order buyers to incentivize day-one purchases, emphasizing a shift towards long-term player trust.

15:02

🎯 The New Ubisoft Strategy: Focus on Long-Term Success

Ubisoft is trying to refocus on player-friendly strategies to secure the long-term success of its franchises. Pre-orders for Assassin's Creed: Shadows will include free expansions, with the game launching on Steam to ensure maximum exposure and competitive pricing. Ubisoft’s shift from controversial revenue-generating practices shows a strong desire to regain the narrative and prevent future failures like Star Wars Outlaws. The company's ongoing adjustments reflect a focus on ensuring that flagship titles like Assassin’s Creed remain profitable and sustainable over time, emphasizing a player-first approach.

🧐 Internal Struggles and Activist Investor Push for Change

Ubisoft is facing increasing pressure from an activist investor who is pushing for a strategy similar to Activision's—focusing only on key franchises and cutting down on risky projects. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint's failure and the overextension of Far Cry have contributed to Ubisoft's decline, leaving Assassin's Creed as the company's most valuable IP. The internal memo from CEO Yves Guillemot admits the need for more polished games and acknowledges that Ubisoft must adapt to a more competitive market. As sales decline across major markets like the UK and EU, Ubisoft is scrambling to survive in an industry that punishes weak competitors.

📉 The Market Decline and Ubisoft’s Struggle for Relevance

The gaming market is facing a significant downturn, with sales declining across major regions like the UK, EU, and the US. Ubisoft’s reliance on underperforming products, alongside overly expensive games rated around 7.5 out of 10, has made the company vulnerable. The company’s previous strategies, including risky late entries into popular genres like extraction shooters and battle royales, have failed. With UK game sales down 30% and a single-digit decline expected in the US, Ubisoft is at risk of losing further ground unless they refocus on core franchises and eliminate costly, ineffective projects.

💰 Investor Opportunities: Turning Ubisoft Around

Activist investors see an opportunity to turn Ubisoft around by buying stocks at low prices and aiming to increase their value through strategic changes. One option is to trim down Ubisoft's costs by cutting underperforming projects, firing staff working on speculative ventures like NFTs and the metaverse, and selling or closing studios. Investors could also push for Ubisoft to go private, leveraging private equity to buy out public shareholders, allowing them more control over decision-making. This investor-led strategy aims to restructure Ubisoft into a more streamlined, profitable entity, potentially through a leveraged buyout.

⚖️ Activist Investor's Battle for Control Over Ubisoft

The activist investor leading the charge wants to break the stronghold that Yves Guillemot and Tencent have over Ubisoft by utilizing EU laws designed to protect minority shareholders. Guillemot has historically resisted external influence to retain control, but the investor's growing stake signals confidence in Ubisoft’s potential as a financial asset. Their ultimate goal is to turn Ubisoft into a more efficient company by eliminating costly ventures and focusing on high-performing franchises, likely through private equity. This could result in Ubisoft going private, freeing it from the demands of quarterly earnings reports and public shareholder scrutiny.

Keywords

💡Ubisoft

Ubisoft is a major video game publisher known for popular franchises like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry. In the video, Ubisoft's current financial struggles and internal restructuring are the central focus. The company is dealing with falling stock prices and dissatisfaction from shareholders, leading to major changes in their business model.

💡Shareholder Revolt

This term refers to a rebellion among Ubisoft’s shareholders, particularly led by an activist investor who opposes the current leadership, particularly CEO Yves Guillemot, and their control over the company. The revolt stems from disagreements about the direction of the company and concerns over minority shareholder rights, with calls for change and reform.

💡Activist Investor

An activist investor is a shareholder who uses their equity stake in a company to push for significant changes, often to improve profitability or restructure leadership. In this context, the activist investor at Ubisoft is demanding changes in the company’s management and practices, aiming to gain more control and steer the company toward a more profitable future.

💡Season Pass

A season pass is a business model where players pre-purchase access to future downloadable content (DLC) for a game. Ubisoft has used this model extensively but is now scrapping it as part of its restructuring to become more player-friendly. The video discusses how season passes were often perceived negatively by players as a manipulative revenue strategy.

💡Advanced Access

Advanced access refers to allowing players to pay more for early access to a game before its official release. Ubisoft has used this model in the past, but the video mentions that the company is abandoning this practice, which is seen as a move to win back player trust by eliminating these psychologically forceful revenue models.

💡Goldilocks Effect

The Goldilocks Effect is a marketing strategy where a company offers three product tiers: a basic version, an expensive premium version, and a middle-priced option that appears more reasonable by comparison. Ubisoft has applied this effect in its pricing strategies, but the video discusses how the company is moving away from this, reflecting deeper changes in its business approach.

💡Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is one of Ubisoft’s key recent releases, mentioned in the video as underperforming in terms of sales and reception. Despite solid reviews, the game struggled with minor quality issues and failed to meet expectations, leading to broader concerns about Ubisoft's ability to maintain its franchises.

💡Assassin’s Creed Shadows

This is an upcoming installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which was notably pulled from the Tokyo Game Show, raising suspicions about its development. The video discusses how Ubisoft is refocusing its strategy on polishing games like Shadows to avoid the pitfalls seen with Star Wars Outlaws and to protect their core franchises.

💡Tencent

Tencent is a Chinese multinational technology conglomerate and one of Ubisoft’s key stakeholders. The video mentions that Tencent’s partnership with Ubisoft has been controversial, with the activist investor criticizing it as part of an unfair power structure that favors certain shareholders over others.

💡Private Equity

Private equity refers to investment capital that is not listed on public exchanges, often used to buy out and take control of companies. The video suggests that the activist investor may want to take Ubisoft private, which would involve buying out public shareholders to gain more control over the company's future direction, potentially reshaping it for profitability.

Highlights

Ubisoft's stock has plummeted 60% month over month and 47% year to date, with a 20% drop in a single day.

Internal shareholder revolt led by an activist investor is pressuring Ubisoft to make significant changes.

Activist investors argue that the CEO's control of the company is unfair to minority shareholders.

Ubisoft is undergoing a major business model change in response to internal and external pressures.

Paid advanced access and season passes are being discontinued by Ubisoft.

Ubisoft games will now be released on Steam the same day as other platforms.

The decision to cancel pre-orders and refund for 'Assassin's Creed: Shadows' indicates a shift in strategy.

Ubisoft is removing the Goldilocks effect from its pricing strategy to focus on player-friendly models.

The underperformance of 'Star Wars Outlaws' has led to a reevaluation of Ubisoft's approach to game releases.

Ubisoft aims to increase the average sale price while maintaining player-friendly practices.

The company is focusing on polishing games and addressing player feedback to improve the gaming experience.

Ubisoft's CEO acknowledges the need for a player-centric approach and long-term value for their brands.

The gaming market is becoming increasingly competitive, with a decline in sales across regions.

Activist investors are looking to take Ubisoft private to gain more control and implement changes.

Ubisoft's strategy includes eliminating risks and focusing on safe products to ensure long-term success.

The company is expected to make significant cuts and changes to its operations to improve financial performance.

Investors are positioning themselves to capitalize on Ubisoft's current low stock price.

Ubisoft's future strategy involves a potential second launch of 'Outlaws' with a focus on narrative and player experience.

Transcripts

it's late September and just after a

brutal fortnite a board meeting is

called shareholders are addressed and

before today's story properly hits the

public Ubisoft leadership breaks the

news that everything is changing and

that because of that they've had to

slash their financial targets year to

dat their stock is down 60% month over

month it's down 47% and just today it

dropped 20% what once traded at 94 EUR

is now trading for

9.2 this is dire you're no doubt here

because of Outlaws and shadows and I

will get there there's a lot to talk

about but there's an entire angle

driving this that you're probably not

aware of because usually it's presented

in a dry and boring way so let me fix

that an internal shareholder Revolt led

by an activist investor essentially

boiled down to this they said that CEO

EES gilmo and the 10 cents deal which

basically shored up their control of the

company in the view of the activist

investor is unfair to minority

shareholders and to get around this

problem they want to crack open the

company using EU law they want more

control they want major changes and in

their Vision they want to leverage what

they learned as an investor of

Activision Blizzard have a long-term

vision and make sweeping changes it is

that pressure that leads us here Ubisoft

you see is a family business defending

control has been a massive theme over

the last decade and that means that CEO

e gilmo now more than probably any time

in his professional life is feeling the

Heat and that is why we see this the

mother of all bright glass in case of

emergency changes things that basically

are giving players what they want and

removing a bunch of bad business model

things and here the job of me and my

team is to break down the business and

the strategy of how games are made so

that whenever you see the insane

depressing bollocks of the news you're

actually left understanding why and to

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and uh let's just say things are going

in the direction where I will be able to

invest in making the show better and

invest more in the team which is damn

exciting okay let's talk about the

change Ubisoft are upending their entire

business model beyond the bit where you

know they're still going to be selling

you video games but paid for advanced

access is Dead season passes are dead

and the whole thing of steam releases

Just Happening a year after well that's

also dead and that's amazing the whole

thing that they wanted to do on the PC

platform was to put you in up play to

have a up play subscription button right

beside the most expensive edition of

whatever game it is so that you get you

play premium and of course they didn't

want the steam fee they tried that and

it's obviously hurt them so now their

games are going to be on Steam and for

consumers this is unambiguously a good

thing season passes are often misused

Advanced access basically sucks and we

all hate it those going is good and

that's because they're psychologically

forceful Revenue optimization squeezes

that are just applied to all players

seeing a AAA incumbent go against that

is good and it's good even if you never

plan to buy a Ubisoft game the reason is

this is now somewhere where the big

companies can compete with each other by

actually being less of a dick but of

course this happening in the first place

can only mean one thing that internally

things were absolutely on fire and that

this is sheer desperation things began

to look strange when Assassin's Creed

Shadows pulled out of Tokyo game show

that was a major marketing beat of

course it's a game set in Japan and it's

Tokyo game show it's also one that

Microsoft are going to be having a

presentation at so eyes would be on it

rumors of a delay immediately began to

swirl and very soon they were confirmed

and we got statements we got reasons and

the big one is Star Wars Outlaws Ubisoft

confirmed that analyst assessments of

the game underperformed are true it's

softly they say despite solid reviews

that's how they frame it but uh solid

does not Scream by me now outstanding

does and the reviews were not

outstanding look at the reviews and you

see that polish is a problem you see

that Minor Details Matter every in-depth

review mentions them and as an example

my colleague who's editing this video a

lifelong Star Wars fan the literal

Target of this game almost quit at the

very beginning or close to it because of

how a stealth segment was framed tuned

and was inconsistent with the rest of

the game it led to an experience that

was that frustrating now AP patch has

since fixed that but the point is it

launched the way that it did how many

players bounced off clearly quite a few

and this lesson obviously impacted

Shadows I think it's very clear they

expected something similar to happen now

they say the game is feature complete

but the based on Outlaws the game needs

more polish Vibes wise that makes sense

this is a game that has had multiple

different dramas swirling around it

since it's very unveiling I also would

wonder if pre-orders have overtime been

weak now back in May Tom Henderson who

runs Insider gaming and has got loads of

sources in the industry his people told

him multiple of them that pre-orders of

the game were strong but that was in May

I think since then things may have

changed and armed with the lesson and

the numbers of Outlaws they're learning

lessons what's happening now is that all

pre-orders of the game are cancelled and

refunded so I would love to see what

their payment processing fee is for that

one the reason why though is clear it's

because the product itself has changed

there is no season pass there is no

Advanced access and those are the two

things that defined the modern Ubisoft

special which was leveraging a powerful

psychological hook that is called the

Goldilocks effect what you do is you

have your base Edition just be what it

is you then have a very very expensive

maxed out Edition with some you know

knick-knacks like Cosmetics but in the

middle you've got the thing that you

actually want people to buy so their use

of the Goldilocks effect fact was

increasing their sale price $69.99 for

the bass version to

$19.99 for the version with the season

pass and of course that premium Early

Access the whole point is that you think

you're getting a great deal because

you're getting all of those extra perks

but obviously it isn't really it's a

great deal for Ubisoft that's because 6

months after release the base game will

be cheaper and you can just buy DLC if

you want to the Gold Edition never was a

good deal it was just leveraging the

Goldilocks effect very well conventional

logic then says that in doing this they

are sacrificing hundreds and hundreds of

millions of dollars and so if they're

doing that we know it must be

desperation now make no mistake average

sale price is still the goal but they're

going about it a different way this is

the new strategy anyone who pre-orders

shadows will get the first expansion for

free and that includes steam because yes

it is launching on Steam day one

pre-orders of course are amazing they

lock in that launch pricing and hey you

get a free expansion that is actually a

good incentive that's all to get people

back but to get them back at day one

pricing and for Ubisoft that narrative

shift with her audience matters take

Valhalla it's been a backbone of their

business it has actually done massive

numbers even though it's not the most

respected game at least based on its

launch what it's had is loads and loads

on loads of DLC it's a single player

live service basically the thing is

though you can't sell DLCs to people who

aren't there hence this situation with

shadows on the topic of Outlaws then

weak sales and soft reception basically

make it hard to justify future content I

mean if it's underperformed why spend

loads of money making DLC for it but of

course if you make that financially

prudent short-term decision what you do

is ensure that Outlaws never turns into

a long-term business like Valhalla did

so what they're doing now to try and

solve this situation is quote fully

mobilizing to address player feedback

and quality of life they're going to do

loads of patches and then on November

21st they're going to launch the first

expansion and launched the game on Steam

and hey it's even got Lando kissian I

mean very cool me personally I clapped

when I saw him in Disney Star Wars

Episode 9 rise of the Skywalker yeah

maybe it'll work but for some tone let's

hear things from the horse's mouth

here's a quote from EES gilmo CEO our

second quarter performance fell short of

our expectations prompting us to address

this swiftly and firmly with an even

greater focus on a player Centric

gameplay first approach and an

unwavering commitment to the long term

value of Our Brands yeah that's

absolutely regular CEO talk yes but

there's actually a deeper reason because

if you've read the shareholder letter

that I talked about last week you'll

actually see crossover and don't worry

that gives us a hell of a note to finish

today's video on strategically then what

we can anticipate is a spiritual second

launch of Outlaws basically big wave of

news big patch announcements deep

discounts and probably a bundle with the

EXP expansion so they can hit the

Christmas game playing audience pretty

hard and really it's all narrative if

you lose the narrative you've got a

negative multiplier on every single

thing that you do that means your

investment is just nerfed and that's why

even though this is dire and this is a

crisis for Ubisoft for us it's actually

good news it shows that you cannot

disregard your narrative that you cannot

do these sorts of things time and time

and time again without it actually

incurring a cost and taking at all and

for just a taste of how quickly they got

loned by reality as I record this video

going to the Ubisoft site you still see

the November release date for this game

you still see the old Gold Edition they

actually haven't even had enough time to

change their own website that's how

quick this has all went down so with

that said let's talk about the future

their plan and then the uh the skull

duggery and the massive opportunity

that's going to make some people a

shitload of money okay let's talk about

ubisoft's fate the strategy is pretty

damn clear increase average sale price

by juicing up day one sales but doing

that in a way that is more player

friendly and sets their franchises up

for good day one on long-term success

that's the plan now let's talk about

that shareholder Revolt you see the core

point of the activist investor who's

leading that is to do an Activision

stick to the big franchises only now you

can't do that if you kill those

franchises take Ghost Recon breakpoint

if you're Ubisoft right now it sure

would be lovely to be fresh off the back

of Ghost Recon wildlands talking about

the next Ghost Recon that's going to

continue to bring that franchise back

but no breakpoint killed it Far Cry ran

dry you just couldn't milk it anymore

Assassin's Creed is their King franchise

and that's why this happens with shadows

because if you kill Assassin's Creed

Ubisoft is finished and I'm going to put

the games aside strategic right they

need Safe products that means

eliminating risks so doing Advanced

access from a position of weakness is

risky not launching in the world's

largest gaming platform in day one is

risky so for all that they may think

that the village building and shadows or

the jewel protagonists with different

gameplay that that's innovating the game

or that Outlaws saying hey do you want

to play our game without yellow paint

and map icons as much as they might

think oh that's making our games better

well the hated commercial trends that

they've went to those have done damage

to the products meaning the games

themselves often don't matter now a

source at Ubisoft leaked an internal

memo to Insider gaming and in that memo

CEO EES gilmo said this in today's ultra

competitive market players expect

extraordinary experiences and Ultra

polished games on day one that's not

Outlaws we need to continue to improve

when it comes to fine-tuning our games

and delivering outstanding gameplay this

is what will enable Ubisoft to again

create the best games in the industry

and looking at that I think it's hard to

say that Eaves is wrong it's also insane

to think that none of this was obvious

years and years and years ago what it is

is the tcid admission of their place in

today's market which is actually a week

Market if you're a weak competitor in a

weak Market you're going to die UK game

sales are down 30% EU down 1.6% which

was a surprising difference to me either

they're perfect data and the same

methodology and the UK really is as

screwed as it seems to be and the

Germans just will never stop playing

RPGs Grand strategies and Sim games or

it's different methodologies that both

Point downwards even when we go to the

US a single digigit decline is actually

expected for the first half of 2024 and

that's shocking because of Hell divers 2

and EA college football which massively

propped those numbers up so my point is

everyone is going down by default it's a

vicious market so product strategy that

is designed to make the most money in a

time of Plenty will obviously be the

first to crumble and for the activist

investors eyeing up the company well

they know this doesn't work when you're

expensive seven and a half out of tens

are fighting everybody else's games

while your Critical Hits are uh you know

your small scale Sid scrollers so let me

explain how investors are going to and

plan to make a shitload of money from

this number one Ubisoft is cheap it's €9

so if you can buy it cheap and sell it

high you're going to make money how do

you get that stock price up then well

one way to do it is to have massive

successes and and all of that but you

can't guarantee a success what you can

do is sort of 8020 principle where

you're you comes from safer products

better long-term vision and most

importantly eliminate costs fire the nft

people fire the metaverse you can get

rid of that stupid goofy you can

then divest Studios sell them to other

people though unfortunately for them

there's not an embracer group ready to

gobble up everything in Europe anymore

and that means you can shut down some

studios you can reduce headcounts in

other Studios you can take the decision

making that led to hey we've got Tom

Clancy so let's do an extraction shooter

late a Cod competitor late a battle

royale late and the Myriad other strange

projects that just died you could stop

doing those stop pissing away your money

they will look at how Elon handled

Twitter they will inhale the smelling

salts of business they will look

lovingly at their picture of Paul Graham

they will touch it and they will whisper

to themselves it is time to engage

founder mode and if you know what that

is you know they'll ask themselves can

we run Assassin's Creed division Siege

and a select other few things while

reducing headcount by 40% now big

picture there's two ways to make money

here number one the stock goes up you

bought it cheap you can sell it high

happy happy but uh number two is almost

certainly what they want to do in my

opinion and that is to take Ubisoft

private to gain more control so what

they would do right is they would plan

changes they would you know establish a

thesis you would then fund taking the

company private with private Equity so

what that would involve is basically a

number per share and buying out the uh

the public shareholders in doing that

there would be way more control over the

company it wouldn't have to deal with

quarterly and all that tasty

private Equity could perhaps be put to

some work and hey maybe you can make it

a leveraged buyout so that Ubisoft

itself get saddled with loads of debt

and the private Equity people get to be

extra super mega happy now the thing is

the activist investor basically says

there have been opportunities to get

loads and loads of private Equity money

and they've basically said no now the

reason there is EES has done a lot to

ensure control over the company it's a

whole big long story but it's why him

and the deal with tensent give them

loads of control over the company and

yes to the point where this investor

wants to use EU law designed to protect

minority shareholders to crack open the

iron grip that e gilmo and tens Cent

have got for themselves over the company

and what's telling is the investor who's

leading this charge started increasing

their position in Ubisoft recently at

alltime lows they're not doing that

because they want to burn money they're

doing that because they think that

Ubisoft the financial asset can be

turned around and to understand that

fool's situation watch this video next

because in light of today's news it hits

so much harder