Ubisoft Entertainment SA is one of the world's largest video game publishers, headquartered in Montreuil, France. Founded in 1986 by five brothers – Yves, Michel, Gérard, Christian, and Claude Guillemot – the company grew from a small mail-order software business in Brittany into a global studio behind franchises such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Yves Guillemot has served as CEO since the company's founding. Ubisoft went public on the Paris Stock Exchange (Euronext: UBI) and today employs more than 20,000 people across 45 countries.
Ubisoft entered the blockchain space through its Strategic Innovation Lab, an internal unit set up to explore emerging technologies including distributed ledgers, AI, and extended reality. The company became a founding member of the Blockchain Game Alliance in 2018, signaling early conviction that on-chain ownership models would reshape game economies. Its investment activity reflects a strategic thesis: back infrastructure and platforms that could eventually integrate with or benefit Ubisoft's own IP and player base, rather than purely financial returns. In December 2021 Ubisoft launched Ubisoft Quartz, its own NFT platform for in-game cosmetic items, built on the Tezos blockchain – the first major publisher to do so. The platform drew significant backlash from parts of the gaming community and was quietly wound down in 2023, marking a notable setback in the company's direct NFT ambitions.
Notable investments
- Ultra (UOS) – Ubisoft was an early strategic backer of Ultra, a blockchain-based PC gaming distribution platform designed to compete with Steam. Ultra uses a dual-token model and gives publishers more control over secondary sales.
- Animoca Brands – Ubisoft participated in funding rounds for the Hong Kong-based Web3 gaming and venture firm, which has itself backed hundreds of blockchain game projects including The Sandbox and Axie Infinity.
- The Sandbox – Ubisoft established a presence in The Sandbox metaverse as a land owner and content partner, with a financial relationship alongside the strategic collaboration.
- Horizon Blockchain Games – creator of the Skyweaver card game and the Sequence wallet infrastructure, in which Ubisoft has been cited as a backer.
- Immutable – Ubisoft explored integration with Immutable's Ethereum Layer 2 infrastructure for gaming NFTs, with a reported investment relationship.
Public information on the full seven-company portfolio is limited. Specific round sizes for individual deals have not been disclosed by Ubisoft.
Team
Ubisoft's blockchain investment activity is directed by its Strategic Innovation Lab rather than a dedicated venture fund. Nicolas Pouard served as VP of the Strategic Innovation Lab and was the primary public spokesperson for Ubisoft's blockchain strategy, including the Quartz launch. Didier Genevois served as the blockchain technical director within the lab. Day-to-day deal sourcing and portfolio management sit within this internal team rather than with a named general partner structure typical of standalone venture funds. Overall corporate strategy is set by CEO Yves Guillemot and the Ubisoft board, which includes representatives of the founding Guillemot family.
Geographic focus is global, with particular emphasis on European and North American blockchain gaming infrastructure. Ubisoft's Paris-area headquarters gives it natural proximity to the growing French Web3 ecosystem, and the company has participated in events organized by France Digitale and similar bodies.
Recent activity
After the Quartz platform wind-down in 2023, Ubisoft pulled back from direct consumer-facing NFT products. The broader company also faced significant financial pressure in 2024, with several game cancellations, workforce reductions of roughly 10% globally, and a share price hitting multi-year lows in late 2024. These pressures have constrained appetite for new speculative investments. In 2025 the Guillemot family and Chinese tech giant Tencent – already a significant Ubisoft shareholder – explored a potential buyout or restructuring of the company, which added further uncertainty to the innovation investment roadmap.
Despite internal headwinds, Ubisoft's existing blockchain portfolio positions remain intact. The company continues to monitor on-chain gaming infrastructure as player-owned economies gain traction in mobile and mid-core genres. If a restructuring or privatization closes, the strategic investment thesis may shift depending on new ownership priorities. For now, Ubisoft remains one of the few large traditional publishers with a documented track record of direct blockchain investments, even if its own consumer product experiments have not delivered the anticipated results.