News business Activision-Blizzard, Ubisoft, Square Enix… the business news of the week
Published on 06/26/2022 at 17:00
Sales figures, studio buyouts, financial statements, developer transfer window, investments… if these topics interest you, you’ve come to the right place. We offer you an update on the business news of the past week.
Activision-Blizzard: Bobby Kotick remains CEO, but shareholders put pressure
We are entering a calmer period for the industry, after the sequence linked to the publication of financial results and major announcements of what is still called the “E3 period”. This does not mean that nothing is happening. Let’s start this weekly report with two announcements related to Activision-Blizzard. As in other societies, shareholders’ meeting took place and, while most of the decisions are anecdotal, two of them caught the eye.
Let us first consider the case of Bobby Kotick, heckled by recent affairs discrimination, harassment, aggression and abuse at work. Many employees called for his resignation, a strike took place, Raven Software workers formed a unionall in the context of takeover by Microsoft. Suffice to say that things are complicated, and that the future of Bobby Kotick as CEO is uncertain. However, 533,703,580 shareholders voted for the current CEO retains his seat for the next 12 monthsalong with the nine other members of the Board of Directors.
A fairly logical decision despite the problems raised, because nothing should get in the way of the takeover procedure by Microsoft. A transition at that time, if desired, would create instability which could very strongly worry the market. Moreover, parting with Bobby Kotick now would be very expensive for the company, and one can imagine that the shareholders unhappy with his action would prefer expect that Microsoft is taking care of the file, which, again, is questionable.
This does not mean that the shareholders gave a blank check to Bobby Kotick, since the latter approved that detailed reports on the company’s efforts in terms of inclusion, the fight against discrimination, harassment and any other reprehensible behavior be created. Last February, the State of New York, through the voice of Thomas DiNapoli, suggested that the American publisher could indeed be more transparent in the future. A proposal rejected by Activision-Blizzard, which was however forced to put it on the table during the meeting. And, surprise, shareholders voted in favor of reporting annual, made up of figures and detailed data:
- the total number of pending complaints of sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination that the company seeks to resolve through internal processes
- details of the company’s progress in reducing the average time it takes to resolve complaints of sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination
- amounts spent to settle disputes related to sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination
- consolidated data on wages and hours worked.
Shareholders voted in favor of the non-binding shareholder proposal to prepare a report on the Company’s workplace efforts. In keeping with our ongoing commitments, we will carefully consider the proposal to improve our future disclosures. Activision Blizzard remains deeply committed to a respectful and welcoming workplace for all of its associates.
Ubisoft: Yves Guillemot lowers his salary and the company takes stock of hiring
Ubisoft was also the target of a major investigation, which led at the departure of several important people in the organization chart, including Serge Hascoët, and Yannis Mallat. A wide reorganization of the creative pole was carried out, and the company has announced that it has reinforced its measures to combat discrimination and declares that it is working to be more transparent about the results. In a document published in 2021, Ubisoft indicated that the cases revealed to the general public had had an impact on the image of the company, and that there was a “high risk” of losing talent. These risks are always underlined, and are particularly linked to a potential lack of attractiveness.
(…) damage to the reputation and image of the group, or to the working environment, can also impact its attractiveness and the retention of talent
Also in 2021, Ubisoft would have hosted more than 600 people who had already collaborated with the company, and who were convinced to come back. On the side of hiring women, a major issue for most companies in the sector, we also had figures:
Women now make up 25% of our total workforce, and have accounted for a third of total recruitment over the past 12 months. In addition, we have a strong representation of women at leadership levels with 42% and 45% respectively for the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. We have ambitious plans to continue building a more diverse and inclusive organization. And while attrition has been a challenge over the past 12 months, the actions we’ve taken to retain talent are starting to pay off.
Overall, in 2022, 25.45% of Ubisoft employees are women. In 2019, they represented only 19.9% of the workforce. At the same time, Yves Guillemot gave up 30% of his salary for the year 2022, due to the fact that the company had not met the financial targets that had been announced to the markets. Ubisoft has confirmed to Axios that this is a decision made by the CEO himself. In total, Yves Guillemot will give up 310,607 euros, which corresponded to a variable linked to performance. Logically, he should earn €624,824 over the current year.
Square Enix invests in France for cloud gaming
Cloud gaming, which consists of playing a game using your connection and a remote machine, makes part of the major areas of development Of the industry. Very high speed is becoming more democratic in the main markets, and makes it possible to offer titles without players having to invest in dedicated and often expensive devices. Xbox has long started the process, followed by Sony and even Nintendo.
Square Enix is also looking into the matter, and recently announced a stake in Blacknut, a Rennes start-up which specializes in cloud-related technologies. Currently Blacknut offers a subscription at 15 euros per month, which provides access to around 500 games on multiple media including connected televisions. The main Blacknut partnerships have notably been signed with Deep Silver, Nacon, Focus Entertainment, Daedalic, Team17 et SNK.
We are very proud to welcome Square Enix, a company whose many successes and franchises, true signatures, have always reinvented themselves by seducing gamers, generation after generation. The decision of the Japanese firm to invest in Blacknut is a confirmation: That of our vision, that of our technology and that of our approach to the market. As gamers continue to shift away from physical formats, Square Enix has seen the potential of Cloud Gaming, which offers unprecedented gaming experiences through streaming, said Olivier Avaro, CEO of Blacknut.
Blacknut is a pioneering cloud gaming company with a unique blend of technical expertise and a true vision for the future of gaming. We are excited about the potential of Cloud Gaming and this partnership will not only allow us to stay at the forefront of new developments in the field but also accelerate our future growth, said Hideaki Uehara, Director of Business Development at Square. Enix.
Square Enix continues to invest in the cloud after an initial failure in 2014. That year, the publisher created a subsidiary called Shinra Technologies, which closed after a year after creating a loss of 14 million euros. But at the beginning of last year, Square Enix invested, like others, in Ubitus, which notably allows Control or Hitman 3 to turn on Switch.
Briefly in the business news of the week
- Cities Skylines sold 12 million units, a milestone celebrated by the developers along with the community.
- The launch of Diablo Immortal in China was pushed back to an unknown date 72 hours before launch. The developers mention optimizations, but the analysts speak of a consequence of the blocking of the Weibo account of the game. 15 million players had pre-registered.
- During the week of June 6 to 12, it is Mario Strikers : Battle League Football which dominates sales in value in France according to SELL. He is followed by Nintendo Switch Sports, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, The Quarry (PS4) and Minecraft (Switch).
- Comme Nintendo, Activision-Blizzard, Take-Two et Wargaming, Sony PlayStation will not be present at gamescom August 24-28. Therefore, no announcements are expected to be made during Opening Night Live on 23 at 8 p.m.
- Supply difficulties also affect joysticks. Xbox said it is aware of stock shortages in France, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany.
- The movie Sonic 2 has passed the $400 million at the box office world.