The newly established game development company co-owned by Tencent and Ubisoft has been officially named Vantage Studios, and it commenced operations today. This studio is set to create new games based on some of Ubisoft’s most prominent franchises, including Far Cry, Rainbow Six Siege, and Assassin’s Creed.

Vantage Studios comprises a workforce of 2,300 professionals from several Ubisoft development branches located in Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Sofia, and Barcelona. The studio will be managed by Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot.

This new entity will adopt a less centralized approach compared to Ubisoft, allowing each development team greater autonomy over their projects. This structure is intended to enable developers to respond more effectively to industry trends and player feedback.

The establishment of Vantage Studios follows a challenging period for Ubisoft, which reportedly began exploring this partnership with Tencent earlier this year due to underwhelming performance in recent years. The initiative to consolidate many of Ubisoft’s major intellectual properties under a new entity was made public in March, accompanied by Tencent’s investment of €1.16 billion into the venture.

Tencent will hold a 25 percent ownership stake in Vantage Studios and will provide advisory support to the leadership team. However, Guillemot and Derennes will maintain decision-making authority in both creative and business aspects of the studio. Ubisoft aims for this arrangement to enhance the creative freedom of its development teams.

The future operations of other studios, like Massive Entertainment, remain uncertain. The publisher has expressed intentions to foster a more decentralized environment, empowering developers with greater responsibility for their projects. Although the company employs roughly 20,000 individuals currently, the integration of around 17,000 other employees into this new framework has yet to be clarified.