Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
According to a new report, French video game publisher Ubisoft has revealed plans to lay off 105 workers at its game development studio Red Storm Entertainment. Additionally, remaining staff members will be redirected away from game development and instead assigned to support work on the Snowdrop engine used for several Ubisoft games, IT and customer relations.
The news comes from GameIndustry.bizwhich reported Thursday morning that a Ubisoft source confirmed that these cuts and adjustments would occur.
Article continues below.
A Ubisoft source told GameIndustry.biz that this large wave of cuts was part of the publisher’s savings plan that was announced in late January alongside the company’s “big reset.” which has seen the majority of its developers reorganize into five “Creative Houses” and the rest become part of a “Creative Network”.
That plan involves saving 200 million euros, which has led Ubisoft to launch a voluntary layoff initiative (that is, asking workers if any of them would offer to be fired), cut numerous developers from its various studios, and closed several of the teams under its protection.
It has also resulted in the cancellation of six games, including the much-hyped remake of the legendary 2003 action-adventure title Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, four unannounced projects, and a mobile game that was in development.
The massive restructuring and these large, widespread cuts to the publisher’s portfolio have come as a result of the poor sales and performance of many of Ubisoft’s recent games (who blamed the players last year) like Skull and Bones and Star Wars Outlaws.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows There was some noticeable brightening in the dark, but overall, the company is struggling, which leads to it. make a deal with Tencent last year that gave the Chinese conglomerate a 25% stake in the company.
Whether or not Ubisoft can recover from years of decline remains to be seen, but it is tragic that we are seeing even more layoffs in the video game industry as a result of its struggle to save its business. All The layoffs are discouraging and The industry has seen far, far too much in recent years. Ubisoft said that all those affected will receive compensation packages and other forms of support, at least, but still.
🗨️When will the layoffs end?
Here I am, once again, writing about layoffs in the video game industry. I feel like I’ve had to do this at least once a week for the last few years, and it’s so depressing. Leaving aside the reasons for the cuts, it is simply tragic that so many people have lost their jobs.
Do you have any thoughts on this latest wave of layoffs at Ubisoft? Share them in the comments if so, and on a lighter note, vote which Ubisoft franchise is your favorite in our poll:
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your ideas and discuss our latest news, reviews and more.
