It's long been suggested that Vivendi is plotting a hostile takeover of Ubisoft, but the publisher has so far been able to avoid being swallowed up. Now, it seems that the company may be pursuing other options as it continues in its attempts to expand its interests in the video game industry.

Stephane Roussel, CEO of Parisian developer and Vivendi subsidiary Gameloft, spoke to the French press about the situation last week. He reiterated the fact that Vivendi wants to have a bigger presence in terms of video games, as Gameloft is a relatively small studio.

Ubisoft still seems to be the most desirable option, given that it's a studio of French origin, and has a stable of franchises that are instantly recognizable to gamers all over the world. However, Vivendi isn't looking at the situation as a case of Ubisoft or nothing.

According to Roussel, Vivendi may drop the Ubisoft bid if it can find another major video game company that's more receptive to its advances. That would be good news for Ubisoft, as management has made no secret of the fact that being bought out wouldn't be good for the studio.

As Ubisoft sees it, being taken over would make it more difficult to create unique and diverse titles. Vivendi has been pursuing the company by buying up stock, a strategy that would give it a great deal of sway in terms of which projects are given the greenlight and which fall by the wayside.

It seems that Vivendi might be about to take the hint and find another developer to welcome into its fold. Of course, the last we heard on the matter was that Vivendi expected to acquire Ubisoft by the end of 2017, so it's entirely possible that this talk is part of a larger game plan.

Source: WCCFTech