It might be a tall order, but Ubisoft is pushing hard to surpass Electronic Arts and Activision for the top spot in the games market. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot believes that there is a great opportunity afoot now that EA has sold off its stake in the French based publisher.
“When they left it changed lots of things for us. We had a competitor owning a share of the company and we were always wary that they could decide they would go for the company – and that wouldn’t have been welcome, he said speaking to MCV. “The problem is that when you have the number one player in your company, you can’t buy another company that would be in conflict with them or their strategy.”
“So now we are totally independent again, we feel a lot better, we are number three and our goal is to beat those guys, EA and Activision, at some point.”
Ubisoft comes out of a strong fiscal year. The company is expected to declare revenues of over €1 billion ($1.45 billion). This is in stark contrast to Activision and EA, sitting at $4.5 billion and $3.5 billion, respectively.
“We got from number 25 to number three, so we think that we can continue and that it is possible to be number one. It’s not certain, but we are taking the steps that we think will get us there.”
When asked about the possibility of seeking acquisitions, he replied, “It has to be by creating or finding products that will make the difference and will be recognized as the best products in the industry. We have to create the products that will fuel the growth. I’m not saying we won’t do acquisitions, but the focus is on creating products.”
