Tencent props up Ubisoft leadership, and Pokémon gets the LEGO treatment | Week in Views

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The games industry moves quickly and while stories may come and go there are some that we just can’t let go of…

So, to give those particularly thorny topics a further going over we’ve created a weekly digest where the members of the PocketGamer.biz team share their thoughts and go that little bit deeper on some of the more interesting things that have happened in mobile gaming in the past week.

Tencent invests $1.25bn in new Ubisoft subsidiary focused on top IP

The Guillemots clung onto control of Ubisoft this week, propped up by influential investor Tencent to the tune of €1.16 billion ($1.25bn).

The fee gets the Chinese publisher a 25% stake, plus royalties, in a new Ubisoft entity that includes major IPs Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. It also features Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona, and Sofia.

The press release was a bit of a confusing mess – probably by design. I’m particularly curious about the new unit’s valuation of €4bn, “implying a FY23 to FY25E
average sales multiple of around 4x”. Right now Ubisoft has a market cap of €1.66bn ($1.8bn).

It left out key details on what happens with the rest of the company. What about its other studios around the world like those in France and the UK? What about other properties like Watch Dogs and Beyond Good & Evil? What happens to its mobile companies Ketchapp and Kolibri?

This was asked on the investor call, with some vague answers about new technologies and new IPs. The latter seems against the founding principles of the deal.

I hope that when it said it’ll share more details on the company’s future and its operating model at a later date, that doesn’t mean mass layoffs and studio closures. Perhaps a few sales are imminent, if there are any buyers.

Tencent currently owns approximately 10% of Ubisoft shares through its own holding company. Meanwhile, in 2022 it invested $300m for a 49.9% stake in Guillemot Bros, run by Ubisoft’s co-founders who control the largest stake in the company. Now it owns 25% in a ‘subsidiary’ that will be responsible for the main revenue drivers in the publisher’s portfolio moving forward.

That’s quite the influence. Notably, the new subsidiary also avoids Tencent picking up a 30% stake in the overall company, which would force it to make a takeover bid.

Worth pointing out, too, the spin-off unit will have a dedicated leadership team, supervised by a board of directors. Ubisoft insists it will exclusively control the new entity.

We’ll see if this apparent change in focus for Ubisoft on its core top franchises – some of the best IPs in gaming – will result in better fortunes for the company over the coming years, or if it will ultimately prove to be the last cry of the Guillemots, while Tencent picks up the scraps.

Pokémon and LEGO team up for the first time, bringing new sets in 2026

Two words: Pokémon. LEGO.

Frankly, it’s a surprise a partnership like this didn’t happen sooner – with all the potential of the Pokémon series’ characters, creatures and environments. But now that we’re here, 29 years of games is a long backlog to work through, with over 1,000 Pokémon ripe for adaptation into LEGO form.

So far, all the teaser showed off was Pikachu’s iconic lightning-shaped tail, so whether Pokémon LEGO ends up being marketed – and priced – more towards young fans or series veterans remains to be seen.

And it really could go either way, based on other Nintendo partnerships with the world-renowned brick builder. So far, Animal Crossing has opted more for the accessible route with smaller, cheaper sets, but The Legend of Zelda’s Great Deku Tree lands at a much more premium price point with two build options in one.

Perhaps Pokémon LEGO will go for both approaches: cheaper, character-focused sets with fan favourites like Pikachu and Charizard, but also pricier scenarios like N’s Castle or the Indigo League.

We’ve got a little longer to wait to find out the answer to that one, though, with LEGO Pokémon sets expected to land sometime in 2026. Better start saving up now if you plan to build ‘em all…