Here's how Ubisoft's late co-founder helped build up one of the biggest players in the gaming industry.
Major games publisher Ubisoft has lost its co-founder Claude Guillemot. Guillemot, aged 69, died on Friday (19 June) in a plane crash that occurred in western France. The co-founder was reportedly travelling by plane to attend an upcoming airshow.
Here’s everything you need to know about the tragic incident:
How did Ubisoft’s co-founder Claude Guillemot die?
Ubisoft’s co-founder Claude Guillemot tragically died in a plane crash on 19 June, 2026, as confirmed by the company, which provided a statement to Newsweek:
“Ubisoft has learned with profound sadness of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the Group and Chairman of Guillemot Corporation, in an accident. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further communication will be made at this stage.”
A French media outlet called Ouest-France has provided more details of the accident. According to the outlet, the crash happened before 6pm local time, in the Loire-Atlantique region in France. Guillemot had been travelling to the La Baule aerodrome to attend an airshow in an eight-seater aircraft, specifically a twin-engine Cessna 421 business plane that he owned.
The plane had been on approach for landing when it crashed, with sources at the outlet reporting that Guillemot had been at the controls at the time of the crash.
What did Claude Guillemot do at Ubisoft?
Claude Guillemot served as part of Ubisoft’s Board, and was its Executive Vice-President in charge of operations. According to Reuters, Guillemot largely worked behind the scenes to maintain the company’s operations.
Notably, Guillemot also served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Guillemot Corporation. The Guillemot Corporation focuses on entertainment and gaming peripherals under the Hercules and Thrustmaster brands. Guillemot was in charge of company development for those brands.
How did the Guillemot brothers create Ubisoft?
Claude Guillemot and his brothers Yves, Michel, Gérard, and Christian founded Ubisoft in 1986 to focus on game development, after running a mail order video games business in 1984. Guillemot and his brothers had originally worked with their parents to run a farming business, but looked to diversify amid difficult profit margins.
The mail order video games business, Guillemot Informatique, first came about when the family began selling computers and gaming software, on top of the already-available farming chemicals and parts. However, it was discovered that the French supplier they were sourcing these gaming-related items from was charging them twice the original cost. Hence, the brothers began a successful mail order business to distribute games to retail stores themselves.
The booming demand for this mail order business eventually led the brothers to look into making games of their own. Thus, Ubisoft was born. The Guillemot family continues to maintain shareholder control of the publisher to this day, with Yves Guillemot serving as its chairman and CEO.
