Ubisoft Purchases Tom Clancy’s Name

Pfeil22 · 03-20-2008, 02:50 PM

I have been a fan of the Tom Clancy brand and its video games for a long time and was rather pleased to read that Ubisoft has finalized an agreement to acquire the name.

Press Release taken from TeamXbox:

Quote:

UBISOFT ACQUIRES THE TOM CLANCY NAME FOR VIDEO GAMES, RELATED BOOKS, MOVIES AND MERCHANDISING

SAN FRANCISCO - March 20, 2008 - Today, Ubisoft, one of the world's largest video game publishers, announces that it has concluded an agreement with Mr. Tom Clancy to acquire all intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name, on a perpetual basis and free of all related future royalty payments, for use in video games and ancillary products including related books, movies and merchandising products.

The price of this all cash acquisition is not currently disclosed. Post acquisition, Ubisoft expects to have a net cash position of around 130 million Euros by the end of fiscal 2007-08, compared to a previous expectation of approximately 150 million Euros. Additional payments will be made as well in fiscal 2008-09 and fiscal 2009-10.

On the basis of past performance of Tom Clancy branded video games, and excluding any potential contribution coming from sales of ancillary products, the royalty savings generated by this acquisition are estimated to have an average positive impact on Ubisoft's operating income of a minimum of 5 million Euros per year.

"After ten years of a highly successful collaboration which has seen the creation of blockbusters that set standards in the videogame industry, such as Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, today, acquiring the perpetual property rights of the Tom Clancy name for video games and related projects is a major event," stated Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer at Ubisoft. "The future of our industry lies in our capacity to create and develop brands that captivate consumers and that present a myriad of opportunities for the full spectrum of entertainment, be it video games, books, movies or other media. The Tom Clancy brand is recognized around the world for offering exciting video games, films and books. The most recent example of such value creation through brand management is the EndWar book, based on the video game story, which has been in the NY Times top 10 Paperback Mass Market Fiction bestseller list for the last four weeks. Capitalizing on the strong franchises that we've built over the past 10 years, we will take the Tom Clancy game brand to the next level of the global entertainment industry."

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Rainbow Six Vegas may lack a lot of the tactical aspects that made their predecessors so great, but the Tom Clancy series still offers solid gameplay and its games remain some of the best squad based offerings in the market. It will be interesting to see how Ubisoft’s expansion of the universe fairs in real-time strategy (EndWar) and air combat (Firehawk). Of course, who knows what movies, books and merchandise will entail, but let's hope it keeps the namesake alive for many years to come.

**MagnaCentipede** · 03-20-2008, 02:57 PM

It will be funny when:
• Tom tries to do anything and gets his pants sued off.
• Anyone else named "Tom Clancy" does anything and gets his pants sued off.
• Lawyers.

Elwenil · 03-20-2008, 03:24 PM

Actually, I think it's a very bad thing. Ever since Tom Clancy originally gave them permission to use the name on games without him signing off on them they have gone from bad to worse and have very little of the feel that the original games did. I have been playing Tom Clancy games since the original Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear is still my favorite, but when Ubi acquired Red Storm, it ruined the brand. If Ubi would put out a game that has more realism instead of this futuristic "army of the future" BS, or the R6 games which have just become a glorified SWAT team, I'd buy it. Until then, I don't think I'll buy them anymore.

**MagnaCentipede** · 03-20-2008, 03:51 PM

Ubi lost my vote when they put the accursed Starforce "copy protection" garbage in their games, such as XIII, which was a lot of fun and had great multiplayer potential. Alas, I don't feel like re-installing my OS every time I play a game.

**RGM-79N_GM_CUstom** · 03-21-2008, 01:16 AM

They dropped Starforce but while I enjoy R6Vegas I refuse to buy the second one.

A combination of a horrible PC port that ruined any chance the game had and I dislike the mass market direction the Tom Clancy series are heading. The only one that will escape my wrath is Splinter Cell unless the PC port is as bad as Double Agent.

03-20-2008, 02:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
MagnaCentipede Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,624	Re: Ubisoft Purchases Tom Clancy’s Name It will be funny when: • Tom tries to do anything and gets his pants sued off. • Anyone else named "Tom Clancy" does anything and gets his pants sued off. • Lawyers. __________________

03-20-2008, 03:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
Elwenil Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Covington, VA USA Age: 34 Posts: 1,226	Re: Ubisoft Purchases Tom Clancy’s Name Actually, I think it's a very bad thing. Ever since Tom Clancy originally gave them permission to use the name on games without him signing off on them they have gone from bad to worse and have very little of the feel that the original games did. I have been playing Tom Clancy games since the original Rainbow Six and Rogue Spear is still my favorite, but when Ubi acquired Red Storm, it ruined the brand. If Ubi would put out a game that has more realism instead of this futuristic "army of the future" BS, or the R6 games which have just become a glorified SWAT team, I'd buy it. Until then, I don't think I'll buy them anymore. __________________ \|TG\|Elwenil A vote for Obama is change we can believe in? So was the last ice age, but that don't make it good.

03-20-2008, 03:51 PM	#4 (permalink)
MagnaCentipede Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 1,624	Re: Ubisoft Purchases Tom Clancy’s Name Ubi lost my vote when they put the accursed Starforce "copy protection" garbage in their games, such as XIII, which was a lot of fun and had great multiplayer potential. Alas, I don't feel like re-installing my OS every time I play a game. __________________

03-21-2008, 01:16 AM	#5 (permalink)
RGM-79N_GM_CUstom Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Paterson, New Jersey Age: 22 Posts: 2,132	Re: Ubisoft Purchases Tom Clancy’s Name They dropped Starforce but while I enjoy R6Vegas I refuse to buy the second one. A combination of a horrible PC port that ruined any chance the game had and I dislike the mass market direction the Tom Clancy series are heading. The only one that will escape my wrath is Splinter Cell unless the PC port is as bad as Double Agent. __________________ RX-78-2 Gundam EFSF Protoype Close Combat Mobile Suit Armor: Luna Titanium Armament: 2x Beam Sabers, 2x 60mm Head vulcan guns 380mm Hyper bazooka, Beam Rifle, Beam Javelin, Hyper Hammer, Gundam Hammer, shield TG Natural Selection admin. Need anything PM me. 7th Infantry FTW!!!!! "Snob? Nah...I consider myself more of a PC Evangelist...converting the heathens to The Way." Prophaniti "Windows is like Pokemon you gotta catch'em all." kenshinsama1

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