Ubisoft Is Laying Off 185 Workers, Shuts Down UK Studio

Summary

  • Ubisoft is laying off 185 employees across its studios.
  • It is also closing one of its studios, Ubisoft Leamington.
  • Ubisoft says that this is part of its ongoing efforts to “prioritize projects and reduce costs” in order to achieve “long-term stability” for the company.

Ubisoft is laying off 185 workers across multiple studios. This includes the complete closure of Ubisoft Leamington, a support studio that was previously known as FreeStyleGames, the developers of DJ Hero.

Ubisoft confirmed these layoffs in an email with VGC. It comes as the company appears to be facing issues, as Tencent and the Guillemot reportedly negotiate a buyout, and multiple games underperform critically and commercially.

Ubisoft Announces Mass Layoffs

This comes during an ongoing power struggle within Ubisoft

Yasuke and Nobunaga prepare to storm a fort in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

“As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritize projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft, we have announced targeted restructurings at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site,” reads a statement from Ubisoft.

“Unfortunately, this should impact 185 employees overall. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition.”

It’s been reported for some time that Ubisoft investors are in buyout talks, looking to increase the value of the company. However, these talks were reportedly put on hold over the Guillemot family being unwilling to give up any more of their control.

It’s likely that much will be decided after the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ubisoft is sorely in need of a hit, after Skull and Bones’ lengthy development resulted in a flop, and Star Wars Outlaws failed to meet sales expectations.

Following the critical reception of Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed Shadows was hit with a five-month delay. This is fast approaching, with the game now set to launch on February 14. The game’s director recently said that this delay was used to polish the parkour – a very important feature to get right.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft

Date Founded

March 28, 1986

CEO

Yves Guillemot

Subsidiaries

Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft San Francisco

Headquarters

Saint Mandé, France

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