AJ Investments, a minority shareholder in Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft, has revealed plans to organise a protest outside the company’s Paris HQ, having accused Ubisoft of failing to divulge alleged discussions with publishers including EA and Microsoft about the possible acquisition of its franchises.
Speaking to IGN, AJ Investments CEO Jura Krupa accused the French publisher of being “horribly mismanaged by current management,” and requests a “clear roadmap for recovery” from senior staff to address “declining shareholder value, lacklustre operational execution, and failure to adapt effectively to market trends.”
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Krupa further added that Ubisoft has been “hiding information” in regards to its decision-making, including partnering with Savvy Group for DLC on Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The executive claimed that “discussions between Microsoft, EA, and others that are interested in acquiring IPs from Ubisoft” have taken place, pointing to a restricted article published by MargerMarket. Krupa claimed that “management did not inform public about these steps either.”
Ubisoft offered the following in its own statement to IGN:
As we mentioned during our Q3 sales, the review of various transformational strategic and capitalistic options is ongoing. The Board has established an ad-hoc independent Committee to oversee this formal and competitive process, so as to extract the best value from Ubisoft’s assets and franchises for all stakeholders. Ubisoft will inform the market in accordance with applicable regulations if and once a transaction materialises.
“Management postponed its current game (which should save the company and its financials) Assassin’s Creed first time on 18th of July 2024,” commented Krupa. “On that date, Ubisoft confirmed full-year guidance for the year and release of AC Shadows on November 15. 2024. Just [a] couple months later, in September 2024, Ubisoft delayed the game again and revised its guidance, which in our view, was [a] move that could have [been] predicted by Ubisoft management.”
After [the] third delay, the game will finally be published on March 20, 2025. These delays and revised guidances caused severe stock declines, which harmed mostly retail investors that have limited resources to manage their positions accordingly. This action benefited mainly corporate and institutional investors who were on the buy side for distressed prices such as Credit Agricole, Goldman Sachs clients, Morgan Stanley, and others.
Juraj Krupa, the founder of AJ Investments, added:
We are aware that Ubisoft’s management and CEO have initiated a financial review of potential strategic options, advised by Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. We expect this review to yield results in the coming months. That is why we are organizing this demonstration in May — to ensure they have time to reach a conclusion that genuinely increases shareholder value. If their conclusion effectively enhances shareholder value, we will call off the demonstration.
All shareholders/investors of Ubisoft deserve a company that maximizes value and operates with transparency and accountability,” Krúpa added. “Ubisoft has continued to underperform compared to its industry peers, and it is time for the company to listen to its shareholders. This demonstration will be a powerful statement from investors who believe in the company’s potential but demand urgent change.
Ubisoft recently came under fire after claims that employees at Indonesian developer Brandoville Studios, which acted as a supported outfit for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, had suffered both physical and mental abuse. The company issued a response to these accusations in January 2025, stating the ‘strongly condemn all forms of abuse.’
Elsewhere, back in October 2024 it was reported by Bloomberg that Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot and his family holdings, Guillemot Brothers Ltd, alongside Tencent were planning take Ubisoft private in a company buyout. AJ Investments had also around the same time accused Guillemot and Tencent of sending Ubisoft’s stocks on a downward spiral to gain control of the publisher.
[Source – IGN]
