Guillemot: ‘Bring on the media giants’

The world’s biggest media conglomerates will snap up publishers left, right and centre in the coming months – but they would be wasting their time by tapping up Ubisoft.

That’s according to Yves Guillemot, who this week told MCV that he was chomping at the bit to take on the likes of Warner Bros, Fox Media and the other global giants who reportedly have their eye on a slice of the games business.

The Activision Vivendi deal has put pressure on the industry and there will be more acquisitions,” he said. That’s not our concern – it can only strengthen our position. More investment in the industry means new ideas.”

When somebody’s doing something well, we are always looking at how we could do it better. It pushes us to do more. I’m interested to see what those guys can bring and how we can beat them.”

When he was asked if Ubisoft was for sale at any price, Guillemot replied: We are at the beginning of what can be done in this market. This is far from being a fully matured industry – as a business, it is booming. It’s time to take advantage of opportunities – not to think about selling our company.”

Guillemot refused to be drawn on the possibility of EA increasing its stake in Ubisoft this year. You’ll have to ask them about that one,” he said.