Editing Ubisoft (section)

=== Origins and first decade (1986–1996) ===
By the 1980s, the Guillemot family had established itself as a support business for farmers in the [[Brittany]] province of France and other regions, including into the [[United Kingdom]]. The five sons of the family – Christian, Claude, Gérard, Michel, and [[Yves Guillemot|Yves]] – helped with the company's sales, distribution, accounting, and management with their parents before university.

All five gained business experience while at university, which they brought back to the family business after graduating. The brothers came up with the idea of diversification to sell other products of use to farmers; Claude began with selling [[CD audio]] media. Later, the brothers expanded to computers and additional software that included video games.<ref name="gi oral">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/06/ubi-uncensored.aspx |title=Ubi Uncensored: The History Of Ubisoft By The People Who Wrote It |first=Matt |last=Bertz |date=6 December 2011 |access-date=8 October 2018 |magazine=[[Game Informer]] |archive-date=5 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005071745/https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/12/06/ubi-uncensored.aspx |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1980s, they saw that the costs of buying computers and software from a French supplier were more expensive than buying the same materials in the United Kingdom and shipping to France, and came upon the idea of a mail-order business around computers and software. Their mother said they could start their own business this way as long as they managed it themselves and equally split its shares among the five of them.

Their first business was Guillemot Informatique, founded in 1984.<ref name="gamekult">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamekult.com/societe/freres-guillemot-224.html |title=Frères Guillemot |publisher=Gamekult |access-date=8 October 2018 |language=fr |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009013213/https://www.gamekult.com/societe/freres-guillemot-224.html |url-status=live}}</ref> They originally only sold through mail order, and then were getting orders from French retailers, since they were able to undercut other suppliers by up to 50% of the cost of some titles. By 1986, this company was earning about 40&nbsp;million [[French franc]]s (roughly {{USD|5.8&nbsp;million}} at that time).<ref name="gamekult" /> In 1985, the brothers established Guillemot Corporation for similar distribution of computer hardware.<ref name="gamekult" /> As demand continued, the brothers recognised that video game software was becoming a lucrative property and decided that they needed to get into the industry's development side, already having insight on the publication and distribution side.<ref name="gi oral" />

Ubi Soft (formally named Ubi Soft Entertainment S.A.) was founded by the brothers on 28 March 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ubistatic19-a.akamaihd.net/comsite_common/en-US/images/Annual_Report_2001_tcm99-27525_tcm99-196733-32.pdf |title=Ubi Soft Financial Report 2000/2001 |date=14 September 2001 |website=Ubisoft |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=23 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923164626/https://ubistatic19-a.akamaihd.net/comsite_common/en-US/images/Annual_Report_2001_tcm99-27525_tcm99-196733-32.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="milestones">{{cite web |url=https://ubistatic-a.akamaihd.net/0090/PROD/ubigroup/PressKit/20180611/Ubisoft_Major_Milestones_JUNE_2018_EN.pdf |title=Ubisoft Major Milestones |date=June 2018 |website=Ubisoft |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930045036/https://ubistatic-a.akamaihd.net/0090/PROD/ubigroup/PressKit/20180611/Ubisoft_Major_Milestones_JUNE_2018_EN.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The name "Ubi Soft" was selected to represent "ubiquitous" software.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/UbisoftMTL/status/303541957727248384 |title=Here is the answer to Friday's questions |author=[[Ubisoft Montreal]] |publisher=[[Twitter]] |date=18 February 2013 |access-date=8 October 2018 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111202847/https://twitter.com/UbisoftMTL/status/303541957727248384 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Ubi Soft initially operated out of offices in [[Paris]], moving to [[Créteil]] by June 1986.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag08/page/n49 |title=Ubi Soft |date=March 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=8 |page=51}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag11/page/n3 |title=Erreur ! |date=June 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=11 |page=8}}</ref> The brothers used the chateau in [[Brittany]] as the primary space for development, hoping the setting would lure developers, as well as to have a better way to manage expectations of their developers.<ref name="gi oral" /> The company hired Nathalie Saloud as manager, Sylvie Hugonnier as director of marketing and [[public relations]], and programmers, though Hugonnier had left the company by May 1986 to join Elite Software.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag10/page/n9 |title=Ubi soft : l'aventure européenne |date=May 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=10 |page=10}}</ref> Games published by Ubi Soft in 1986 include ''[[Zombi (1986 video game)|Zombi]]'', ''Ciné Clap'', ''Fer et Flamme'', ''Masque'', and Graphic City, a [[Sprite (computer graphics)|sprite]] editing program.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag12/page/n9 |title=Ah, les vacances ! |date=July 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=12 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag14/page/n15 |title=Gérez vos cagnottes |date=September 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=14 |page=17}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag16/page/n15 |title=Arrivé |date=November 1986 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=16 |page=16}}</ref><ref name="tilt">{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/Tilt038/page/n95 |title=Les Boulimix |date=January 1987 |magazine=[[Tilt (French magazine)|Tilt]] |issue=38 |page=96}}</ref> As their first game, ''Zombi'' had sold 5,000 copies by January 1987.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n8/games_games.html |title=The European Report: Games, Games And More Games |last=Willey |first=Andre |volume=3 |issue=8 |date=March 1989 |magazine=[[STart]] |access-date=21 April 2016 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309031329/http://www.atarimagazines.com/startv3n8/games_games.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="tilt" /> Ubi Soft also entered into distribution partnerships for the game to be released in Spain and [[West Germany]].<ref name="tilt" /> Ubi Soft started importing products from abroad for distribution in France, with 1987 releases including Elite Software's ''Commando'' and ''Ikari Warriors'', the former of which sold 15,000 copies by January 1987.<ref name="tilt" /><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/AmstradMag19/page/n27 |title=Ikari Warriors |date=February 1987 |magazine=Amstrad Magazine |issue=19 |page=28}}</ref> In 1988, Yves Guillemot was appointed as Ubi Soft's [[chief executive officer]].<ref name="milestones" />

By 1988, the company had about 6 developers working from the chateau. These included [[Michel Ancel]], a teenager at the time noted for his animation skills,<ref name="gi oral" /> and Serge Hascoët, who applied to be a video game tester for the company.<ref name="bloomberg hascoet 2020">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-21/ubisoft-sexual-misconduct-scandal-harassment-sexism-and-abuse |title=Ubisoft Family Accused of Mishandling Sexual Misconduct Claims |first=Jason |last=Schreier |author-link=Jason Schreier |date=21 July 2020 |access-date=21 July 2020 |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |archive-date=21 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200721101132/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-21/ubisoft-sexual-misconduct-scandal-harassment-sexism-and-abuse |url-status=live}}</ref> The costs of maintaining the chateau became more expensive, and the developers were given the option to relocate to Paris. Ancel's family which had moved to Brittany for his job could not afford the cost of living in Paris and returned to [[Montpellier]] in southern France. The Guillemot brothers told Ancel to keep them abreast of anything he might come up with there.<ref name="gi oral" /> Ancel returned with Frédéric Houde with a prototype of a game with animated features that caught the brothers' interest. Michel Guillemot decided to make the project a key one for the company, establishing a studio in [[Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis|Montreuil]] to house over 100 developers in 1994, and targeting a line of [[fifth generation of video game consoles|5th generation consoles]] such as the [[Atari Jaguar]] and [[PlayStation (console)|PlayStation]]. Their game, ''[[Rayman (video game)|Rayman]]'', was released in 1995.<ref name="gi oral" /> Yves managed Guillemot Informatique, making deals with [[Electronic Arts]], [[Sierra On-Line]] and [[MicroProse]] to distribute their games in France. Guillemot Informatique began expanding to other markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. They entered the video game distribution and wholesale markets and by 1993 had become the largest distributor of video games in France.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/stream/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_Issue_054_January_1994/Electronic_Gaming_Monthly_Issue_054_January_1994_djvu.txt |title=Behind the Screens at Ubi Soft of France! |last=Quemard |first=Christine |issue=54 |date=January 1994 |page=174 |magazine=[[Electronic Gaming Monthly]] |publisher=[[EGM Media]] |access-date=21 April 2016}}</ref>