Ubisoft has said that it sees itself as a contender in becoming the world's largest third-party publisher.It has no intention of coming in behind Activision Blizzard and the still (very, very) hypothetical EA/Take Two.

When asked if Ubisoft plans to have a bigger worldwide operation that the two potential super-publishers, Christine Burgess-Quémard, the executive director of Ubisoft's Worldwide Studios said, "We want to expand our business. We want to continue our strategy of innovation, and in order to do that, we need to have more people and generate more business.

"Every blockbuster we work on, we invest in new studios, new teams and new projects.

"So, to your question, yes. We are in the race, definitely – and we’re not in it to come last."

Asked whether Ubisoft is keeping an eye on the potential EA buyout of Take Two, Burgess-Quémard said, "We’re watching like the rest of the industry is, because obviously there’s been a few marriages before that have had an effect. We’re always happy to see newlyweds, but it won’t affect our studio strategy in terms of what we want to bring to consumers."

If the latest bout of speculation (there's not really anything as substantial as a rumour to this one) doing the rounds is to be believed, Ubisoft might actually be one of the "interested parties" (other than EA) talking to Take Two about a potential sale or merger.

The rumblings stem from a Forbes article. Following Take Two's earnings conference call, where the company's chairman of the board, Strauss Zelnick, said it has "had and continues to have formal discussions with interested parties" about consolidation, Forbes asked some analysts who they thought was a likely candidate. Ubisoft's name promptly surfaced thanks to its size and development culture.

While that's far from unbelievable at this point it sits firmly on the 'speculation' end of rumour and speculation.

^{Sources: Develop, Forbes}