Ubisoft officially opened Vantage Studios, a new “creative house,” on October 1, 2025. It will be in charge of some of the company’s most famous game series, such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. This decision comes after reports in March 2025 that Tencent would put money into a spin-off of Ubisoft’s most popular IPs. Tencent owns 25% of Vantage Studios, while Ubisoft still has most of the power.
Ubisoft is making Vantage Studios a key part of its larger plan to change the company. Over time, Ubisoft plans to make more “creative houses” like this one for other franchises. This will put brands together under the same technical, creative, and operational resources.
Size, Organization, and Leadership
Vantage Studios doesn’t start from scratch. Instead, it brings together teams and resources from Ubisoft’s studios all over the world. Around 2,300 people work there, and they come from Ubisoft’s development teams in Montréal, Quebec; Sherbrooke, Saguenay (Canada); Barcelona (Spain); and Sofia (Bulgaria).
Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot are the co-CEOs of the new subsidiary. Derennes is a long-time Ubisoft executive and co-founder of Ubisoft Montreal. Guillemot is the son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot and has worked in Ubisoft’s internal transformation structures before. They are expected to make creative and business decisions, while Tencent will only give advice.
Ubisoft says that Vantage Studios is fully
consolidated under its finances, which means that Ubisoft will include the new company’s results in its own books.
Using Flagship Franchises
Ubisoft has relied on its big-name franchises for money, good reviews, and a strong brand identity for a long time. But in the last few years, the company has come under pressure because of inconsistent releases, big projects that didn’t live up to expectations, and rising development costs. Ubisoft wants to focus development, cut down on internal redundancies, and speed up delivery by combining Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six into Vantage Studios.
The announcement in March 2025 set the subsidiary’s goals as improving single-player story experiences, adding more multiplayer content, looking into free-to-play or social mechanics, and taking advantage of cross-platform ecosystems. Ubisoft gets a lot of money—€1.16 billion—from Tencent, which makes the carveout worth about €4 billion.
Autonomy and Decentralization
One of the things that people have said bad things about Ubisoft in the past few years is that it is too centralized and that decisions take too long to make at many studios. Ubisoft wants to decentralize control with Vantage Studios by giving development teams more freedom to decide how to creatively direct their franchises, while still relying on shared technical, service, and tooling support. Ubisoft says that the model makes it easier for developers to go from player feedback to implementation.
This method emphasizes the idea of “creative houses,” which will also be used to group future franchises into similar structures, each with its own identity and rules. The goal of this kind of change is to cut down on duplication, make people more responsible, and encourage people to share what they know across projects.
Possible Effects and Problems
Control over creativity vs. influence in business
Ubisoft still has most of the control, but Tencent’s 25% stake and role as a major global games publisher raise questions about how Tencent will affect creative direction, monetization strategies, or strategic priorities in the long term. People who like and dislike the show will be watching closely to see how the balance between creative freedom and profit incentives works out.
Organizational Change and Cultural Integration
It’s not easy to bring together teams from different places and make sure that their workflows work together under a new governance model. Even though the same developers moved to Vantage, it can still be hard to get everyone on the same page about goals, expectations, and process standards. It will be very important to make sure that the transition goes smoothly and that ongoing projects don’t get stuck.
Risk to Other Ubisoft IPs
Putting a lot of money and resources into Vantage could mean that other franchises don’t get as much attention, especially during important funding cycles. Franchises like Watch Dogs, The Division, Ghost Recon, or Splinter Cell may not know what to do with their resources or what to focus on first.
How the Market and Investors See It
Ubisoft has been under pressure on its stock price and had problems with development, so this restructuring comes at a bad time. The move tells investors that the company is focusing on its most valuable IPs and trying to make its model stronger and more efficient. Vantage’s success could set the stage for future growth and restructuring. Failure or bad management could make investors even more doubtful.
What It Means for the Players and Franchises
Vantage Studios might make more regular releases, better polish, and better structured support for fans of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. This could include things like live services, expansions, and cross-platform play. The change could also lead to bigger innovations by getting rid of some of the problems that come with centralized oversight.
Fans will, however, keep a close eye on any changes to monetization (like free-to-play features, microtransactions, or “games as a service” models) that may happen over time. Ubisoft and Vantage will have to find a way to keep their businesses going while also protecting their creative integrity and keeping players happy.
What to expect in the future
Ubisoft has made it clear that Vantage is just the first step in a bigger reorganization. As time goes on, new creative houses may get other franchises, each working under a similar hybrid model of independence and shared resources.
The next games in these series will be very important for proving Vantage’s model. If new Assassin’s Creed or Rainbow Six games come out with fewer delays, better polish, and better support, this could be a turning point for Ubisoft’s development culture.
At the same time, we don’t know how Tencent will treat its small stake or if it will have more power over time. If done right, Vantage could be a model for how to balance the size of big publishers with the speed and flexibility of developer-driven execution.
Ubisoft is making a big bet with Vantage Studios by putting its best franchises together in one focused, decentralized, Tencent-backed company. It wants to speed up innovation, improve quality, and make things more efficient. Whether it works or fails will depend on how well it is carried out, how well it fits with the culture, and how well it keeps the trust of both developers and players.
