Ubisoft and Tencent Announce New Subsidiary to House Far Cry, Rainbow Six, and Assassin’s Creed as Vantage Studios

After more than six months since the first announcement, Ubisoft and Tencent have officially unveiled the name of their new subsidiary: Vantage Studios. This new entity will take charge of some of Ubisoft’s largest and most lucrative franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six, marking a major structural shift in how the French publisher manages its creative output.

The deal, first revealed earlier this year, saw Tencent invest 1.16 billion euros for a 25% minority stake in the new studio. Today’s announcement came through Ubisoft’s official website, where the company described Vantage Studios as a “creative house” designed to give developers more autonomy while still benefiting from Ubisoft’s shared expertise and technical infrastructure.

Vantage Studios will be co-led by Charlie Guillemot (son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot) and Christophe Derennes, both taking on roles as co-CEOs. The studio’s mission is wide-reaching: it will focus on narrative-driven experiences, scale Ubisoft’s mobile gaming division, and strengthen its live service and multiplayer offerings.

Ubisoft stated:

“Vantage Studios will take on development and expansion of these brands, building on the foundation of Ubisoft’s experience and expertise, sharing services and technical resources, all while giving developers more hands-on control over the games they are building.”

Perhaps the most intriguing takeaway from this announcement is that Vantage Studios is not a one-off experiment. Ubisoft confirmed that more “creative houses” will be established in the future, each potentially overseeing other major Ubisoft brands.

This could mean that going forward, Ubisoft’s global development model will move away from every project being branded directly as “Ubisoft.” Instead, subsidiaries like Vantage Studios could stand at the forefront of brand recognition. For instance, we might soon see Assassin’s Creed titles labeled primarily as Vantage Studios productions, either as “A Ubisoft Studio” or without the Ubisoft label altogether—similar to how Raven Software and Treyarch operate under Activision’s Call of Duty umbrella.

Ubisoft emphasized that these creative houses will streamline development pipelines and enhance community engagement:

“The goal of Vantage Studios, and future creative houses, is to facilitate stronger and deeper connections between developers and players. This streamlined approach allows for both a higher level of autonomy for developers and a shorter pathway between gathering and implementing player feedback, while still offering the benefit of Ubisoft’s expertise, services, tools, and tech.”

Vantage Studios will comprise teams already working on Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed, and Far Cry, spread across Ubisoft’s major development hubs in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia. In total, thousands of developers are being consolidated into this new structure, with the aim of creating stronger, more focused production pipelines for Ubisoft’s biggest series.

Following a turbulent 2024 marked by delays, mixed releases, and leadership shakeups, Ubisoft appears to be preparing for a major transformation. With Tencent’s backing, the publisher is signaling a longer-term strategy that emphasizes creative autonomy, financial security, and a rebranded organizational structure.

Whether this move leads to stronger games and closer engagement with players - or further fragmentation of the Ubisoft identity - remains to be seen. But it is clear that Ubisoft, one of the industry’s oldest and most recognizable publishers, is entering a new era of decentralization and strategic partnerships.

Do you think Ubisoft’s shift to creative houses like Vantage Studios will improve the quality of its franchises, or risk diluting the Ubisoft brand?