Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Killed in Light Plane Crash Near La Baule, France

Claude Guillemot, a co-founder of French video game publisher Ubisoft, was killed Friday when a light plane crashed near La Baule in western France. He was 69. Two people were aboard the aircraft and both died, according to The Associated Press and local emergency-response reporting. Ubisoft confirmed Guillemot’s death to AP.

The crash happened near La Baule-Escoublac, in France’s Loire-Atlantique department. AP, citing local officials, reported that the aircraft went down in a field while on approach to La Baule-Escoublac aerodrome. The plane was reported as a Cessna 421, a light twin-engine aircraft, though that detail has not been presented here as an official accident-investigation finding. AP also reported that first responders found the aircraft on fire.

An investigation is underway, but key details remain unclear. Reuters, citing local newspaper Ouest-France, reported that the Saint-Nazaire prosecutor’s office had opened an inquiry into the crash. Some secondary reports described that as an inquiry for involuntary manslaughter, but that characterization has not been independently confirmed here from a public prosecutor’s statement. The cause of the crash is not known from the reporting available, and it has not been confirmed who was piloting the aircraft.

Guillemot was one of the five Guillemot brothers who founded Ubisoft in 1986. The company grew into one of the world’s best-known video game publishers, with franchises including “Assassin’s Creed,” “Rayman,” “Far Cry” and Tom Clancy-branded games. The death draws attention because of the family’s central role in building a company that became a major force in the global games business.

Claude Guillemot was not reported to be involved in Ubisoft’s day-to-day leadership at the time of his death. His brother Yves Guillemot remains the company’s chief executive. Background information in recent years had linked Claude Guillemot more closely with Guillemot Corporation, the family-associated gaming hardware and peripherals business. As of Saturday, no further confirmed details had been made public about the circumstances of the crash, and the inquiry was continuing.