Ubisoft has solidified the leadership of its recently established internal structure by naming two industry veterans to key operational posts. The French publishing giant has officially appointed Julien Bares as General Manager of Creative Houses 3 and 5, while Thomas Andr\u00e9n takes the helm as General Manager of the newly formed Creative Network. These appointments represent a crucial step in Ubisoft’s ongoing corporate transformation, aiming to leverage specialized expertise across its sprawling studio ecosystem. The moves signal a strategic focus on live services, mobile gaming, and centralized production support as the company navigates a competitive market landscape.<\/p>\n
The appointment of Julien Bares marks a significant homecoming for an executive with deep roots in both Ubisoft and the broader industry. Bares returns to the company where he previously spent eight years as a producer. His career trajectory then took him to a nearly nine-year tenure as General Manager of 2K China<\/b>, followed by a high-profile role as Vice President of Tencent Games<\/b> starting in September 2020. This extensive experience, particularly in the Asian market and with major publishers, is seen as a direct asset for his new leadership role. Additionally, Bares has held board positions at several notable development studios, including Splash Damage, Tequila Works, Don’t Nod, and Sharkmob, broadening his perspective on game development and publishing.<\/p>\nThe Mandate for Creative Houses 3 and 5<\/h3>\n
Bares will oversee two distinct but strategically vital Creative Houses. Creative House 3<\/b> is defined by its focus on live games, a segment critical to Ubisoft’s portfolio with titles like Rainbow Six Siege<\/i> and The Division 2<\/i>. This house is tasked with building and sustaining deep player engagement through ongoing content, services, and community management. In contrast, Creative House 5<\/b> specializes in mobile and casual games, a massive and fast-evolving market. Ubisoft has seen varied success in this arena and is looking to strengthen its position. Bares’s background at Tencent, a global leader in mobile gaming, is considered a perfect match for driving innovation and growth in this division.<\/p>\nBares\u2019s Vision for Innovation and Community<\/h3>\n
In a statement, Julien Bares connected his career motivation to the new opportunity, saying, “I entered the games industry to create experiences that resonate with players.” He described leading the two Creative Houses as “an opportunity to partner with incredibly talented teams to build innovative games and deepen the connections we have with our communities.” Bares emphasized a methodology centered on technology and collaboration, stating, “By combining powerful technology and smart collaboration across our studios, we can push the boundaries and continue building on Ubisoft’s unique creative culture.” This suggests a future where cross-studio\u8d44\u6e90\u5171\u4eab and technological excellence are prioritized to enhance both live operations and mobile development.<\/p>\n
Parallel to Bares’s appointment, Ubisoft has named Thomas Andr\u00e9n as the General Manager of its newly created Creative Network<\/b>. This arm is designed not as a development house itself but as a centralized support structure. Its mission is to provide “best-in-class production capacity” to the various Creative Houses across “a wide array of development mandates.” Think of it as an internal resource hub offering specialized services and expertise, from technical art to advanced programming support, to empower individual projects and improve efficiency.<\/p>\nAndr\u00e9n\u2019s Path to the Creative Network<\/h3>\n
Thomas Andr\u00e9n joined Ubisoft in October 2021 as Managing Director of the Massive Entertainment<\/b> studio in Malm\u00f6, Sweden, the developer behind The Division<\/i> series and the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws<\/i>. His leadership there led to a promotion in 2023 to Regional Managing Director for Ubisoft’s businesses in Sweden, Finland, and Romania. Before his time in the games industry, Andr\u00e9n spent five years at media services firm Red Bee Media and another five-and-a-half years at the telecommunications giant Ericsson. This blend of studio management, regional operations, and a strong background in tech and media services provides a unique skillset for managing a complex internal support network.<\/p>\nThe Strategic Role of the Creative Network<\/h3>\n
Andr\u00e9n outlined the potential of his new domain, calling the Creative Network “an incredible concentration of expertise, craftsmanship, and innovation.” He noted, “Each studio brings its own unique strengths and capabilities,” highlighting the diversity within Ubisoft’s global footprint. His stated goal is to “strengthen collaboration across the network and with our Creative Houses,” thereby “combining agility with world-class expertise to support the development of ambitious games and deliver great new experiences for players.” In essence, the Creative Network aims to break down silos, allowing studios to tap into a collective pool of talent and tools without losing their individual creative agility.<\/p>\n
These executive appointments cannot be understood outside the context of Ubisoft’s broader reorganization. The company first unveiled its Creative House<\/b> operating model in January of this year. This move was part of a larger series of announcements that included the creation of the Tencent-backed subsidiary Vantage Studios<\/b> (designated as Creative House 1), the cancellation of six unannounced projects, and a significant \u20ac200 million cost-cutting initiative. The model seeks to organize Ubisoft’s vast array of studios into more focused, genre or platform-specific units, each intended to operate with greater autonomy and strategic clarity while still benefiting from centralized publishing and support.<\/p>\nExecutive Endorsement from the Top<\/h3>\n
Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot explicitly linked these leadership choices to the company’s transformation goals. In his statement on the appointments, Guillemot said, “I am very pleased to see Julien and Thomas stepping into these strategic roles. They both bring proven experience in game development and a shared passion for our industry.” He underscored the critical impact expected from Bares and Andr\u00e9n, adding, “Their vision and their ability to bring together top talent will be key to creating compelling experiences that delight players, while contributing to Ubisoft’s transformation and growth.” This framing makes it clear that these are not merely managerial changes but strategic placements intended to drive tangible results in both product quality and business performance.<\/p>\n
The establishment of clear leadership for these new units allows Ubisoft to move from structural theory to operational execution. With Bares at the helm, Creative Houses 3 and 5 are poised to sharpen their focus on the critical live service and mobile segments, areas where consistent execution is paramount. His cross-publisher experience is expected to inject new operational perspectives and potentially strengthen Ubisoft’s strategies in global markets, particularly in Asia. Meanwhile, Andr\u00e9n’s task is to make the theoretical benefits of the Creative Network a practical reality. His success will be measured by the increased efficiency, reduced friction, and enhanced capability he can deliver to the development teams across the various Creative Houses.<\/p>\n
The ultimate test of this reorganized model will be the games it produces and their reception in the marketplace. Ubisoft is betting that by empowering specialized leadership and creating a robust internal support system, it can foster innovation, improve developmental stability, and better serve player communities. As the industry continues to consolidate and competition intensifies, such internal restructuring is a proactive attempt to harness Ubisoft’s scale and talent in a more agile and effective manner. The appointments of Julien Bares and Thomas Andr\u00e9n are therefore pivotal steps, placing experienced and strategically aligned executives in charge of key engines intended to power the company’s future growth and creative output.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ubisoft has solidified the leadership of its recently established internal structure by naming two industry veterans to key operational posts. The French publishing giant has officially appointed Julien Bares as General Manager of Creative Houses 3 and 5, while Thomas Andr\u00e9n takes the helm as General Manager of the newly formed Creative Network. These appointments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":88015,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cards.overcentral.com\/cards\/en\/34580.png","fifu_image_alt":"Ubisoft Announces General Managers for Creative Houses 3 and 5","footnotes":""},"categories":[349],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-articles"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cards.overcentral.com\/cards\/en\/34580.png","fifu_image_alt":"Ubisoft Announces General Managers for Creative Houses 3 and 5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}