Ubisoft could be split up as Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag remake details leak

Black Flag looks to set sail once again (Ubisoft)

Ubisoft’s future could involve a new venture with Tencent, as it looks to support the Nintendo Switch 2 in a big way.

While 2024 was a pretty bleak year for the games industry at large, Ubisoft was one of the companies which suffered the most financially.

The delay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows meant Ubisoft’s biggest money-maker missed the Christmas season, which came after a string of underperforming titles like Star Wars Outlaws, XDefiant, Skull And Bones, and Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown. As a result, Ubisoft’s share price dropped to its lowest point in almost 11 years.

The future of Ubisoft is now a big question for this year, and after claims it was considering a buyout via Tencent, a new report suggests the founders of Ubisoft are debating teaming up with the Chinese media conglomerate to form a new subsidiary company.

As reported by Bloomberg, Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and Tencent, which together own 29.6% of the voting rights over Ubisoft, are said to be considering creating a new venture ‘that would include certain Ubisoft assets’ in a bid to boost the French company’s value.

While the specifics on the proposed deal aren’t exactly clear, the report claims it would ‘allow Tencent to own a stake in the venture and gain more control over some of Ubisoft’s intellectual properties’, as it looks to boost its video game business outside of China.

It’s said the two companies are ‘evaluating’ which assets would be included in this new venture. Ubisoft’s biggest franchise by some distance is Assassin’s Creed, followed by the likes of Just Dance, Far Cry, and the Tom Clancy games.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows artwork of samurai and ninja — Can Assassin’s Creed Shadows turn the tide? (Ubisoft)

According to the report, these deliberations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made, but this is said to be one potential route under consideration, along with the buyout reported in October last year.

While it’s unclear how these deals would change the company moving forward, both deals suggest the Guillemot family will have to relinquish some control over Ubisoft. A minority investor, AJ Investments, previously called for current CEO Yves Guillemot to step down.

What are Ubisoft’s new games for 2025?

Aside from Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which launches on March 20, Ubisoft has a bunch of other Assassin’s Creed titles in development. These 10 games are reportedly set to release over the next five years, with the next one expected to be a remake of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, which still hasn’t been officially announced.

According to a report on Mp1st, this remake will be ‘more than just a visual upgrade’, with ‘gameplay mechanics and elements’ also being improved.

The Black Flag remake was previously rumoured to launch in November 2025, although nothing has been officially announced. A Fall Guys-inspired Assassin’s Creed multiplayer game codenamed Invictus was also said to be coming out ‘around the same time’, but it’s unclear if the delay to Assassin’s Creed Shadows has impacted these dates.

As for Ubisoft’s other plans in 2025, reliable leaker NateTheHate has claimed the company has ‘more than half a dozen games for the Switch 2’ planned, and ‘a lot of them are going to be late ports’.

On the ports specifically, he lists franchises like The Division and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, along with Assassin’s Creed Mirage. ‘To my understanding, Assassin’s Creed Shadows is one of those in development ports, it just won’t be ready for launch, and probably won’t be ready for the launch window,’ he added.

The leaker also claims there’s ‘some discussion and consideration of doing a Mario + Rabbids collection’, although it’s unclear if this will include any new extras beyond the two games.

Ubisoft was one of the few third party companies to support the original Switch at launch in 2017, with Just Dance, so it’s very likely it will have even more planned for Nintendo’s next console, especially as the two companies have collaborated in the past.

As for what other third party games are expected for the console, rumours suggest Red Dead Redemption 2 might be on the way, along with Tekken 8.