Ubisoft’s Claude Guillemot, 69, dies after twin-engine plane bursts into flames in France- What we know
Claude Guillemot, one of five brothers who co-founded French video game giant Ubisoft in 1986 and headed Guillemot Corp., died on Friday, June 19, when the twin-engine light plane he owned crashed and burst into flames near La Baule in western France. He was 69 years old. The flight instructor who was on the plane also died.
The exact cause of the La Baule crash has not yet been determined and French aviation authorities are expected to launch a formal investigation. The Cessna 421 is a well-regarded twin-engine aircraft widely used for private and regional travel throughout Europe.
Ubisoft Confirms Death of Co-Founder Claude Guillemot After Plane Crash in France
Ubisoft confirmed the death of one of its founding brothers in an official statement on Saturday, expressing sadness at the loss of a man who helped grow the company from its origins in rural Brittany to become one of the world’s best-known video game publishers.
“Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn that Claude Guillemot, the group’s co-founder and president of Guillemot Corp., had died in an accident,” the company said. “Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further statement will be made at this time.”
What Happened: La Baule Plane Crash
The eight-seat Cessna 421 twin-engine propeller plane had left Rennes on Friday afternoon, June 19, before landing in a field in the Loire-Atlantique commune of La Baule. Loire-Atlantique firefighters confirmed two people dead at the scene.
When first responders arrived at the scene, they found the situation serious. Authorities said that when they arrived at the scene, “the aircraft was on fire and the fire had spread to surrounding vegetation.” The severity of the fire slowed the process of identifying those on board and delayed official confirmation of the victims’ identities.
La Baule mayor Franck Louvrier confirmed details of the flight to regional outlet Ici Loire Océan, describing it as “a Cessna 421, an eight-seat, twin-engine propeller aircraft, departing from Rennes.” The other passenger on board is believed to be a flight instructor living in Rennes.
Regional publication Ouest-France, which first reported the news, confirmed that the plane’s owner, Guillemot, was among the dead. He was expected in La Baule that weekend for a meeting involving more than a hundred aircraft, indicating that aviation was among his personal passions.
Who was Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot?
Claude Guillemot was one of five brothers who founded Ubisoft in Brittany, France, in 1986, along with Christian, Gérard, Michel and Yves Guillemot. What started as a small software distribution business has grown over four decades into a global entertainment company behind some of gaming’s most enduring franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six.
Beyond his role in founding Ubisoft, Guillemot also served as president of the family company Guillemot Corp., where the brothers have long held a significant stake in Ubisoft. His death at the age of 69 marks the loss of one of the most influential figures in the history of the European game.
Ubisoft’s Financial Struggles: A Company in Transition
The death of its co-founder comes at a time when Ubisoft is going through one of the most turbulent periods in its history. The company this week reported a record annual loss of around 1.5 billion euros, equivalent to around US$1.7 billion, for the 2025-26 financial year due to a massive restructuring programme.
The restructuring, which the company flagged in January, resulted in the cancellation of seven games and the postponement of another six. Net bookings, Ubisoft’s preferred measure of revenue, fell 17.4 percent for the full year to just over 1.5 billion euros. In the fourth quarter alone, this figure fell by 54% year on year to 415 million euros. The company did not have any important publications during this period, except for the strategy title Anno 117: Pax Romana.
As part of the restructuring, Ubisoft plans to consolidate half of its development studios into five organizations it calls “creative houses” and move the rest into support functions.
Yves Guillemot, Claude’s brother and the company’s chief executive, addressed the challenges directly: “This two-year transformation brings difficult decisions and disappointing short-term financial performance.”
He also warned investors about the near term, saying fiscal 2026-27 would likely be a “low point” in financial performance given “a softer exit plan and restructuring costs.” The company expects both a “high single-digit percentage” decline in net bookings and a “high single-digit negative” operating margin for the period.
Ubisoft’s Road Ahead: New Games and Studio Restructuring
Despite the difficult financial outlook, Ubisoft is continuing with recovery plans pegged in the next few releases. The most pressing of these is Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of one of the most famous games in the series, scheduled for release on July 9. The company also noted that several unannounced “premium games based on established Ubisoft brands” are in development.
Looking further ahead, the company is hopeful of a meaningful recovery from 2027, when new games from the flagship series are expected to arrive. The Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six series have been grouped under a new entity called Vantage Studios, one of Ubisoft’s first publicly announced creative houses and which has also received investment from Chinese internet group Tencent.
