When Ubisoft and Tencent announced the creation of a new company that will take control of Ubi's Big Three—Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six—the obvious question, for me at least, was, who's really going to be in charge here? Ubisoft has the games, yes, but Tencent has the money. Today we got our answer, and it turns out that it's not the games that really matter, but the name—and that name is Guillemot.
"Ubisoft announces the next step in the roadmap of its new subsidiary—introduced on March 27th—with the appointment of Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot as co-CEOs," the company announced today. "With complementary backgrounds, Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot bring strong industry expertise, deep knowledge of the Ubisoft ecosystem, and a shared culture of innovation."
Charlie is not one of the five Guillemot brothers who founded Ubisoft—Christian, Claude, Gerard, Michel, and Yves—but rather the son of Yves, Ubisoft's longtime CEO. Here's what Ubisoft says Charlie brings to table, aside from being a nepo baby:
"Charlie Guillemot has built a hybrid career at the intersection of management and innovation. He brings an entrepreneurial perspective and a sharp understanding of evolving industry dynamics and players’ expectations, shaped by his experience in game development. With a strong product mindset, deep tech culture, and a passion for games, he represents a new generation of leadership focused on innovation, quality, and putting players at the centre of decision-making."
That could lead one to wonder: Why does he need Charlie as co-CEO? It's possible that Ubisoft hopes the injection of (relatively) young blood with fresh perspectives will counterbalance any potential "stuck in his ways" approach of a guy who's been around for decades—a Chico Gonzalez to Derenne's Dirty Harry Callahan, if you will.
Whatever the reason for the pairing, Guillemot and Derennes "will lead the subsidiary in building evergreen, multi-platform game ecosystems and writing the next chapter of Ubisoft’s renowned franchises," Ubisoft said.
"Backed by growing investments and Tencent’s expertise as a core strategic partner, it will give development teams greater autonomy and agility to fully unlock the potential of these iconic games, while shaping the next generation of player experiences."
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