Ubisoft's Vice President of Live Operations Anne Blondel recently spoke in an interview about Vivendi's takeover bid of the company, and she expressed concerns that if Ubisoft were to lose their independence, they would also lose some of their identity.
"The thought I have is that I have been [...] with Ubisoft, for 20 years, and I know what made us so successful for 30 years, is being super independent, being very autonomous," she said. "[In regards to] sales, well sometimes we take a lot of risk, you think about The Crew, that was a risk. People would look at that like, 'maybe it's not going to work, another racing game, what are you thinking?' Child of Light, Valiant Hearts, all those kinds of titles."
"I think that's what makes Ubisoft so different, and personally speaking, I think this is what we are. This is what we want to remain, it's what has made us successful and been able to deliver the type of games we've been delivering for 30 years".
"So far so good, I would say, because gamers are still [with Ubisoft] and I know for a fact, having been there for 20 years, that if you [separate] us from our independence, if you take away the way we like taking risk and inventing new stuff, well it's not going to be the same Ubisoft - for me, it wouldn't be the same."
Do you agree with Blondel's concerns?