Ubisoft's $1.3 billion deal with Tencent to close soon, new Creative Houses plan coming in 2026

Ubisoft is about to make some big organizational changes as it nears the completion of a substantial $1.3 billion deal with Tencent.

Armed with a mighty billion-dollar investment from Tencent, Ubisoft is ready to restructure its business. Tencent invested $1.3 billion into Ubisoft, acquiring a 25% stake in a new subsidiary called Vantage Studios. This deal is about to close, and a recent earnings report gives an update on what's next for its major brands.

Ubisoft will split its creative game-making organizational structure into what it calls Creative Houses. Each of these units will oversee various franchises. It's been confirmed that Vantage Studios is the first of these Creative Houses, which indicates that each house unit will not be limited to a single franchise. Vantage will be in creative control over all of Ubisoft's most valuable franchises--Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six Siege will be managed by the Vantage-led Creative House.

• Read more: Ubisoft carves up business into Creative Houses, each to focus on specific franchises & genres
• Read more: Vantage Studios takes over Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six game development

The company plans to reveal the full operational structure of its Creative Houses in January 2026, but gives no further details on which franchises will be handled by which groups.

It's possible that the Creative Houses will be led by Ubisoft's various existing teams, including the likes of Massive Entertainment, who oversees The Division series.

The Creative Houses will also be led by Heads of Franchises, Ubisoft says.

We've included all of the relevant details on Ubisoft's new org structure below:

The first Creative House - built around the Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six franchises - will operate under three guiding principles: Autonomy, Focus, and Player Centricity.

A new leadership team is being formed, including Heads of Franchises, to drive creative excellence and operational agility across each brand on their path to building annual billion-euro brand ecosystems.

New operating model to be announced in January 2026. By year end, the Group will have finalized the design of its new operating model built around Creative Houses, independent business units with the objective of driving stronger creative vision, greater focus, efficiency, autonomy and accountability. The full details of this model will be unveiled in January 2026.

Vantage Studios represents a key element of the transformation of the company towards a new operating model built around Creative Houses. We will have finalized the design of this new organization by the end of the year.

These Creative Houses will be autonomous, efficient, focused and accountable business units, each with its own leadership, creative vision and strategic roadmap. This Group-wide transformation reflects our ambition to renew how we create and operate in order to deliver great games for our players and lasting value for our partners and shareholders.

The full details of this new operating model will be unveiled in January.

The transaction with Tencent is on track to close in the coming days. All conditions precedent have been satisfied. At closing, the €1.16bn investment will deleverage the Group. It will also enable the acceleration of Vantage Studios' IP growth, support selected investment opportunities across the rest of the Group, and facilitate ongoing reorganization efforts.

The design of the Group's new operating model built around Creative Houses with the objective of fostering stronger creative vision, greater focus, efficiency, autonomy and accountability will be finalized by year end with full details unveiled in January 2026

Closing of the announced transaction with Tencent All conditions precedent of the transaction have been satisfied, enabling the sale of a minority stake in its New Subsidiary - Vantage Studios - to Tencent to close in the coming days. This marks a major milestone in Ubisoft's transformation journey. The proceeds of this transaction will deleverage the Group on a consolidated non-IFRS net debt basis, while providing enhanced financial flexibility to support its strategic transformation.