Claude Guillemot, who co-founded the video game company Ubisoft in 1986, died on June 20, 2026, in a plane crash near La Baule on the coast of France. He was 69 years old. A flight instructor was also in the aircraft. The cause of the crash is not yet known.

Guillemot and his four brothers built Ubisoft from a small software business in rural Brittany into one of the world's largest independent video game publishers. The company is famous for making Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Rainbow Six, and Watch Dogs — franchises that are played by millions of people globally.

Over nearly 40 years, Ubisoft grew alongside the video game industry itself. When the brothers started in the 1980s, games came on floppy disks for computers. The company adapted as technology changed: through the CD-ROM era, the rise of consoles like PlayStation and Xbox, and into today's online games that constantly update with new content. Claude served as chairman of Guillemot Corp, the family company that owns Ubisoft, while his brother Yves ran the publisher day-to-day as CEO.

Ubisoft is currently struggling. Sales have been weak, and players are losing interest in some of the company's long-running series. The Guillemot family has been discussing whether to sell the company or keep it private, and large companies like Tencent have reportedly expressed interest in buying it. Claude Guillemot was involved in these decisions because his family controls the company through their holding company.

The way the Guillemot family runs Ubisoft is unusual. The five brothers have always held the top jobs and owned the company at the same time — which gives them enormous power over its future. With Claude Guillemot's death, it's worth paying attention to how decisions within the family might change, particularly because questions about what happens to Ubisoft next are still unresolved. No news reports have yet detailed any specific changes to how the company will be run.

Ubisoft today has offices and studios across the world, employing tens of thousands of people. The Assassin's Creed games alone have sold over 200 million copies — a legacy that goes back to a small bet the Guillemot brothers made in Brittany four decades ago.