Clancy name bought by Ubisoft, worth big bucks

by Richard Mitchell { Mar 25th 2008 at 6:45PM }

Late last week, it was reported that Ubisoft had purchased the rights to the Tom Clancy brand for use in video games and related products such as books. In a follow-up article on Gamasutra, industry analyst Michael Pachter estimates that the Tom Clancy brand could have cost Ubisoft as much as €60 million ($94 million). Ubisoft, for their part, have not publicly stated the purchase price. The deal is especially lucrative for Ubisoft, as the company will no longer have to pay royalties for use of the Tom Clancy name (currently affixed to the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six series, among other staples and upcoming franchises).

One last note from the bottom of the article: in addition to the Tom Clancy MMO, Ubisoft is also working on a crossover series which Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot described as "similar in scope to Nintendo's Super Smash Bros." Whether or not this will stay strictly within the realm of Tom Clancy remains unclear. We hope not, because frankly we'd like to see Rayman and Sam Fisher fight to the death. Remember, Rayman has no neck to snap.

Tags: tom-clancy, ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

xenocidic @ Mar 25th 2008 7:22PM

hate to be that whiny guy again, but I tipped this back when the news broke =)

Van Faulk @ Mar 25th 2008 8:01PM

they didn't own it already?

Van Faulk @ Mar 25th 2008 8:03PM

Oh and I cannot wait for a ubisoft smash bros....so I cna not play it.

Deck @ Mar 25th 2008 8:12PM

Way to whore out Tom Clancy! MMO's, Smash Bros..what's next, Tom Clancy Rock Band? I mean come on already!

I like many of the Tom Clancy games and some of the books are good too. But this may just get to be too much.

webster1990 @ Mar 25th 2008 8:18PM

ubisoft smash would be awesome,
altair
sam fisher
one of the rainbow six guys/ ghost recon guys
prince of persia
rayman
an ape from ape escape
the girl from beyond good and evil
catz/ dogz/ horsez/pigeonz etc etc
the far cry guy
the entire cast of lost (via domus ftw! lol)
king kong
XIII
(y) yay!

xenocidic @ Mar 25th 2008 8:35PM

@van faulk

they had licensed his name. now they just own it.

i wonder if he'll change his name now.

Xav de Matos @ Mar 25th 2008 8:56PM

@xenocidic: News is queued up. Not everything can be shoved out at once.

Anticrawl @ Mar 25th 2008 9:08PM

Dear X3F,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMwsZNG6sG8

Enjoy and have a good night.

Anticrawl @ Mar 25th 2008 9:22PM

By the way anyone with Vegas 2 may want to view that video. I won't say why but you will enjoy/use it (most likely).

xenocidic @ Mar 25th 2008 9:38PM

@xav i know, but it makes me warm and fuzzy inside to see the "Thanks, xenocidic" at the bottom of news items. unless you in fact knew about this prior to my tip.

xenocidic @ Mar 25th 2008 9:40PM

@anticrawl

was it really necessary to release into the public domain a how-to on cheating?

Anticrawl @ Mar 25th 2008 10:18PM

It isn't cheating? It's a glitch my friend, cheating could be thought of as is abusing said glitch though.

You aren't hurting anyone with said glitch, just a method for unlocking weapons, it is terribly boring. You can be pissy and ungrateful if you want, others will enjoy the video along with others I have posted.

Anticrawl @ Mar 25th 2008 10:20PM

I don't publicly release glitches that can be used to gain an unfair advantage in competitive multiplayer modes/games though I do know plenty. Me being a advid hunter of bugs and glitches is a personal hobby. The fact that I'm making said glitch public will only lead to it getting fixed quicker rather than having it available to select few in the underground. This way everything can be fair and balanced.

Anticrawl @ Mar 25th 2008 10:24PM

Also me being as I am allows me to shrug off negative comments such as yours. I get all sorts of blind hatred for what I do. I don't abuse glitches online or use them to harm others. I simply find them and send them in to the developers privatly and occasionally release the few of them I see fit to allow other players to use. If one were able to crack into a vault to steal money without getting caught wouldn't one want the person who designed the vault to know? That is if they are an honest individual.

xenocidic @ Mar 25th 2008 11:29PM

"You aren't hurting anyone with said glitch, just a method for unlocking weapons"

"I don't publicly release glitches that can be used to gain an unfair advantage in competitive multiplayer modes/games"

Weapons unlocked through a glitch don't provide an unfair competitive advantage?

Anticrawl @ Mar 26th 2008 12:08AM

No my friend, in fact no matter what your level is everyone in Vegas 2 has an equal chance to dominate or not. Everyone has heavy armor from the start and you get the highest stats guns and the most used gun in the game, the famas.

Besides guns aren't gained via rank, they are gained with ACES which can be maxed out legitmatly within a day.

Don't be an idiot.

Xav de Matos @ Mar 26th 2008 4:30AM

Guys, I think we're forgetting the most important thing.

TOM CLANCY DOESN'T HAVE A NAME ANYMORE!1!!!

Thanks for the tip Xeno (for this, it was sitting in the queue already written for a while hence the no love at the bottom - sry) & Anticrawl (for the video).

xenocidic @ Mar 26th 2008 8:57AM

@xav - no worries, it's understandable. big news like this would be tough to go unnoticed.

and yes, I can't believe Tom Clancy sold out like this. I mean,, he'd already sold out, but now he's just *completely sold out*.

@anticrawl - whatever. enjoy glitching and teaching people to glitch for achievements and upgrades. personally I like to "earn" mine. and from what I've seen, most readers here do as well. so your assumption that "anyone with Vegas 2 ... will enjoy/use it (most likely)" is entirely off-base. next time, speak for yourself.