Ubisoft appoints North American MD Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot as co-CEOs of new Tencent spinoff

Ubisoft has appointed Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot as co-CEOs of its new spinoff subsidiary with Tencent.

Ubisoft “accelerated its transformation” by developing a new operating model and subsidiary following a $1.25bn cash “injection” from Chinese megacorp Tencent back in March.

In a bid to “rapidly” evolve its operating model, Ubisoft created a subsidiary based upon its Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six brands, arguably the developer/publisher’s tentpole franchises. Through a “formal and competitive process,” Ubisoft selected Tencent to invest a minority stake of €1.16bn ($1.25bn) to focus on expanding those games’ “truly evergreen and multiplatform ecosystems.”

Now, according to Variety, Derennes will move from his position as managing director for North America along with son of co-founder Yves Guillemot.

“With complementary backgrounds, Christophe Derennes and Charlie Guillemot bring strong industry expertise, deep knowledge of the Ubisoft ecosystem, and a shared culture of innovation,” Ubisoft said in a statement.

CEO Yves Guillemot, father of Charlie, added: “Charlie and Christophe’s main responsibilities will be to define the strategy and vision for the brands, create the right conditions for the teams to operate at the highest level, and ensure players remain at the heart of everything they do. With Christophe’s extensive operational and production experience, having launched and led the Montreal studio, he has demonstrated throughout his career his ability to do just that.

“Together, Christophe and Charlie’s role will be to provide the direction and framework to empower the people working on the games to reach new heights.”

Questioned directly by Variety about concerns of nepotism, Charlie said: “I completely understand where it comes from, and I want to be clear about it. Yes, I’m Yves’ son. That’s not something I hide from. But my appointment isn’t only about family ties; it’s about what Ubisoft needs at this moment.

“I’ve spent the last decade building experience both inside and outside Ubisoft, leading teams, managing brands, and navigating change in a fast-moving industry. I also made the conscious choice to step away when it made sense, to learn and grow elsewhere.”