Ubisoft’s co-founder Claude Guillemot dies in plane crash

Ubisoft co-founder Claude Guillemot died after a Cessna plane crashed in a field when attempting to land in France.

PARIS - Claude Guillemot, who co-founded French video-game publisher Ubisoft UBIP.PA with his brothers in 1986, has died, the company said on Saturday.

“Ubisoft was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Claude Guillemot, co-founder of the group and chairman of Guillemot Corp, in an accident,” the statement said.

“Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones during this difficult time. No further statements will be made at this time.” it added.

Guillemot, 69, died Friday in a plane crash in La Baule, a resort town on France’s Atlantic coast that was scheduled to host an air show this weekend, newspaper Ouest-France reported.

He was one of two people aboard the twin-engine Cessna 421 plane, the newspaper said. Both passengers died in the incident, Ouest-France said.

Guillemot helped transform Ubisoft from a mail-order software business into one of the world’s largest video game companies, before serving as chair of the family’s hardware arm Guillemot Corporation.

He worked largely behind the scenes as the operational backbone of the family’s broader entertainment business, while his brother Yves became the public face of the gaming giant as its long-serving CEO.

Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Leo Marchandon; Editing by Jan Harvey