Mass Layoffs and Restructuring: What’s Happening at Ubisoft?

The year has barely begun, yet news of large-scale layoffs and project cancellations in the games industry has surfaced once again. Unfortunately, this bleak trend of recent years shows no sign of fading. This time, Ubisoft employees have been hit: the company has decided to undergo a full-scale restructuring in an attempt to halt the financial decline that one of the industry’s former key publishers has been experiencing for several years now. Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on.

As early as January, it became known that Ubisoft had completely shut down its Canadian studio in Halifax, resulting in around 70 employees losing their jobs. This particular studio was best known for the mobile game Assassin's Creed Rebellion. Notably, just a few weeks before the closure, the studio’s employees had formed a union; however, according to company representatives, this had no connection to management’s decision.

Later, Ubisoft announced layoffs at its Swedish studios: 55 employees at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm were affected. At the same time, the studios’ strategic direction remained unchanged: Massive Entertainment will continue developing the Tom Clancy’s The Division series, while the Swedish teams will retain a key role in the development of Ubisoft Connect and the Snowdrop engine.

It was also reported that Julian Gerighty, executive producer of The Division franchise, is leaving Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment to work on the Battlefield series. Gerighty was a lead developer on The Division and The Division 2, served as creative director on Star Wars Outlaws, and had overseen the entire The Division franchise since 2023.

On top of that, it has only now been officially confirmed that back in November of last year, the company laid off 29 employees at its Abu Dhabi studio. Ubisoft stated that a number of mobile projects had been canceled in order to refocus the team’s efforts on Growtopia.

The total number of employees to be laid off remains unknown, but the cuts will continue. There is information suggesting that Ubisoft plans to lay off up to 200 people at its Paris headquarters. The office’s role will shift toward management, strategic priorities, and capital allocation. In response to the layoffs, Ubisoft’s French unions have confirmed a global employee strike scheduled for February 10–12.

Ubisoft also announced a new company structure consisting of five so-called creative houses:

Additionally, Ubisoft announced a shift to a mandatory in-office work format: remote work will either be fully eliminated or reduced to a minimum. Going forward, most employees will be required to work from the office on a permanent basis. One Ubisoft veteran stated that he was placed on a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension for publicly criticizing the company’s new mandatory return-to-office policy.

As part of the restructuring, Ubisoft has axed as many as six projects currently in development. Among those announced is the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. The news caught many off guard: not long ago, rumors suggested that the game was nearly finished and about to be released. At the same time, information was circulating online claiming that early testers had noted extremely poor quality.

The official Prince of Persia account published an explanation for the decision. Completing the five-year development of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake would have required more time and investment than the company could afford. Unfortunately, the team was unable to reach the level of quality expected by fans, and continuing development could have resulted in a product that failed to live up to the legacy of the iconic The Sands of Time.

Most surprisingly, Beyond Good & Evil 2 somehow managed to avoid cancellation. This is despite the fact that the project remains one of the industry’s longest-running development sagas: the game was first announced back in 2008, and the current version of B&G2 has reportedly been in production since around 2017. According to leaks, the prolonged and troubled development may have cost Ubisoft more than $500 million, yet the company considers these expenses justified.

Game development has become both time-consuming and expensive — a problem also faced by companies like Microsoft and Sony. When projects then deliver weak commercial results, the blow to the business is especially painful. Sales of Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin’s Creed Shadows disappointed Ubisoft: Shadows, for instance, sold 4.3 million copies over seven months, which is one of the worst results among modern entries in the franchise. In addition, several of the company’s online projects, including the long-suffering Skull and Bones, failed to attract a mass audience.

For a long time, Ubisoft maintained a sprawling network of studios with high fixed costs. Against the backdrop of declining revenue, this structure proved financially unsustainable.

The restructuring was commented on by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. He noted that rising development costs have made the AAA blockbuster market more competitive and less forgiving of mistakes. Under these circumstances, Ubisoft is launching a large-scale company reset aimed at returning to sustainable long-term growth. The company will prioritize open-world adventures and games designed from the ground up as live services.

A key element of the transformation will be the aforementioned creative houses, which will combine development and publishing functions and focus on specific genres and brands. This new decentralized approach is intended to speed up decision-making and increase Ubisoft’s overall efficiency.

According to Guillemot, the company was forced to cancel several games and delay the release of others (rumors suggest that the Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag remake may be delayed by as much as a year), as well as close studios and lay off staff in order to optimize the new structure. Guillemot emphasized that these steps will negatively impact financial performance in the short term, particularly over the next few years, but will ultimately strengthen Ubisoft.

It’s difficult to say whether Yves Guillemot’s optimistic forecasts will come true. However, on one point he has already been proven right: amid all the negative news surrounding Ubisoft’s troubles, the company’s shares have already fallen by 33%, dropping to around €4.36 — the lowest level in more than 14 years. In addition, the publisher has warned of an operating loss of around €1 billion for the financial year ending in March 2026. To top it all off, according to insiders, some of the remaining employees are calling the situation “the final nail in the coffin” and are preparing to leave the company.

Overall, the situation looks bleak. The restructuring may help Ubisoft stay afloat for a while, but its future depends on regaining the trust of gamers. Whether that’s realistically achievable remains an open question — one that will depend on the quality of the company’s future games.

What do you think? Are you worried about Ubisoft’s fate? Share your thoughts in the comments.