In recent months, we've seen that Ubisoft is still seeking investment from somewhere as it wrangles with game delays and general management difficulties - and a new bit of information has come to light today that suggests Microsoft has held discussions with the company over the future of its gaming IP.
In an article shared by IGN, one disgruntled Ubisoft shareholder has started spilling some information about what's going on over there right now. Juraj Krúpa, CEO of AJ Investments (the shareholder in question), claims that the Assassin's Creed maker failed to disclose "discussions between Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft".
Krúpa apparently mentioned that these discussions were shared in "a restricted article published by business investment platform MergerMarket", and that neither Ubisoft investors nor the public were informed of them by the French game maker.
In its defense, Ubisoft has shared a statement with IGN as part of today's article - a statement that's filled with plenty of business jargon; the sort of language that makes your brain melt when reading it. Anyway, from what we can parse, Ubisoft is basically saying that it's exploring different options for the future of its IP - and we'll only find out more if and when any of those options turns into an actual deal.
"As we mentioned during our Q3 sales, the review of various transformational strategic and capitalistic options is ongoing. The Board has established an ad-hoc independent Committee to oversee this formal and competitive process, so as to extract the best value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises for all stakeholders. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materialises."
Unfortunately, there's no hints as to which IP Microsoft (or EA for that matter) is interested in acquiring from the company, but it's safe to say that Ubisoft's asking price would probably factor heavily. The team has lots of lucrative game series under its belt - game series that the likes of Xbox and EA would be glad to scoop up at the right price.