Ubisoft has announced a deal with Tom Clancy to buy Tom Clancy.
The arrangement will give Ubisoft all intellectual property rights to the Tom Clancy name, “on a perpetual basis and free of all related future royalty payments, for use in videogames and ancillary products including related books, movies and merchandising products,” according to a statement by the company. The cost of the purchase was not revealed, although post-purchase financial projections indicate an up-front payment of roughly €20 million ($31 million), with future payments to be made in fiscal 2008-2009 and 2009-2010.
“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 videogames and related projects is a major event,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “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.”
Ubisoft added that based on the past performance of Tom Clancy games, the company expects the acquisition to save the company about €5 million ($7.7 million) in royalty payments per year. Neither Ubisoft nor Clancy would comment on rumors that the noted author would now begin referring to himself by his middle names, James Tiberius.
