A minority investor in Ubisoft is organizing a protest at the company’s Paris headquarters, claiming the video game giant has been “horribly mismanaged” and hasn’t been open about potential sales talks with other companies.
AJ Investments, which owns less than 1% of Ubisoft, is calling on other frustrated investors to join their demonstration in May. The investment firm’s CEO, Juraj Krúpa, has expressed serious concerns about how the company is being run. “Ubisoft is horribly mismanaged by current management,” Krúpa stated in comments reported by IGN.
The investors are particularly upset about what they see as a lack of transparency regarding possible discussions with major companies like Microsoft and Electronic Arts about acquiring Ubisoft’s valuable intellectual properties.
They also pointed to a partnership between Assassin’s Creed Mirage DLC and Saudi investment firm Savvy Group, which they claim was not properly communicated to shareholders.
The shareholder protest comes during a difficult period for Ubisoft. The company has faced multiple game delays, disappointing releases (Lost Crown, Star Wars Outlaws, XDefiant), and a significant drop in its stock price. Most notably, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a game that Krúpa describes as one that “should save the company and its financials,” has been delayed three times and is now scheduled for release on March 20, 2025.
These repeated delays have caused Ubisoft’s stock price to drop significantly, which Krúpa claims has mainly hurt small investors who don’t have the resources to adjust their investments quickly. Meanwhile, he suggests that larger institutional investors like Credit Agricole, Goldman Sachs clients, and Morgan Stanley have been able to buy Ubisoft shares at low prices following these announcements.
AJ Investments is also threatening legal action, saying they are prepared to “sue the company for misleading investors” if necessary.
This isn’t the first time AJ Investments has expressed dissatisfaction with Ubisoft’s leadership. In September, the firm sent an open letter to Ubisoft’s board of directors, CEO Yves Guillemot, and fellow investor Tencent, urging the company to consider new leadership or even a potential sale of the business. This followed disappointing performance of Star Wars Outlaws, which Ubisoft confirmed fell short of expectations.
Later in October, Bloomberg reported that Ubisoft’s founding Guillemot family and major shareholder Tencent had been discussing the possibility of taking the company private. Some media outlets have even suggested that Tencent may be hesitant to fully invest in Ubisoft because the Guillemot family wants to maintain significant control over the company.
For its part, Ubisoft has acknowledged that it is reviewing “various transformational strategic and capitalistic options.” In a statement to IGN, the company confirmed: “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.”
As the May protest date approaches, it remains to be seen whether Ubisoft’s management will take actions that satisfy the demands of AJ Investments and other concerned shareholders, or if the situation will escalate further.
