Are you excited for the upcoming Assassin’s Creedy Odyssey? Google is offering players a free opportunity to play the game through their beta game streaming services called Project Stream. You’ll have access to the game until Mid-January. To sign up, click the link.
What do I need to play it?
All you need is a computer with Google Chrome browser! Since it is a test of Project Stream, expect technical issues. Google spoke about developing a game streaming service that would broadcast games through the Chromecast. Obvious issues like graphics lag and buffering are issues that Google is looking to delete before launching Project Stream.
The Internet will always catch you with your pants down. Whether it’s finding Drake’s baby mama or finding a person’s racist comments or acts in the past, the internet will make sure people discover it. The same can be said for the new Assassin’s Creed game. Jeuxvideo, a France gaming website, showed a merch left behind showing the title: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. The new AC game looks to be set in Greece based on the Spartan logo.
Enter a caption
Last year, a t-shirt depicting an assassin in Egpty was discovered by a NeoGaf user before Assassin’s Creed Origin was announced. Ubisoft hasn’t commented on the item but most 2018 game leaks seem to be true such as the new Pokemon game. Hopefully, this is not a new title for the main series as previously, Ubisoft stated they would only return to annual releases if they felt the series was on the “right track”. Origins was released last year and received raved reviews and it showed Ubisoft took the time to fully develop the game rather than churning them out.
Despite creating amazing games and long-lasting franchises, you would be surprised to hear Ubisoft was trying to avoid a hostile takeover of their company for several years from Vivendi. Vivendi is a French multimedia company. They are active in music, television, film, and video games. They were the previous owners of the most shares for Blizzard Entertainment (World of Warcraft, OverWatch) before they became Activision Blizzard. Vivendi began to purchase shares of Gameloft and Ubisoft to own the companies. CEO of Ubisoft, Yves Guillemot and Michel Guillemot, viewed their acquirement as a hostile takeover and worked together to prevent Vivendi from purchasing more stocks.
What do Shareholders do?
Investors can purchase a majority of shares than others to have influence on the Board of Directors (BoD). The Board of Directors vote to determine which direction a company should move and they represent the shareholders. Depending on how much a person invests into shares determine the amount of power within their votes. Vivendi attempt to buy more shares was to own Ubisoft just like they bought most of the shares for Gameloft. Vivendidenied the accusations on December 2016. They had owned 27.5% prior to the current news. France laws states if a person owns more than 30%, they are obligated to offer to buy the company.
Tencent’s portfolio in 2014
Yves worked with individuals to prevent Vivendi from purchasing more shares. Vivendi is now selling its 27% shares for 2 billion euros. Ubisoft and the Guillemot Brothers C.E. (Representative company of Ubisoft‘s founders Guillemot family) will acquire 15% of Vivendi‘s shares. Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan — an independent organization that administers pensions for about 318,000 teachers in Canada’s most populous province- and Tencent (League of Legends, PUBG China), a Chinese conglomerate will purchase the 3.4% and 5% of the remaining stock but won’t have seat on the BoD. The rest will be sold through accelerated book building.
Why is this important?
The Board of Directors have huge influence on companies but they may not follow the same views as the CEO or how people want the company to act. Their biggest focus is on the companies to earn as much money as possible. With Ubisoft owning most of the shares and already setting plans for 2018 – 2020, they can choose their own business practice. Shareholders won’t have the influence to force Ubisoft to use “dirty” business strategies such as releasing more DLC, releasing unpolished games or creating more mobile games. We want gaming companies to choose their own business goals without compromising their principles because of the shareholders.
The Gaming News Corner 