Ubisoft cuts 98 workers across Canadian offices
Assassin’s Creed Mirage Publisher Ubisoft is laying off 98 people from its Canadian offices, the company confirmed to Polygon on Tuesday. Ubisoft’s administrative, IT and VFX studio Hybrid – which worked on Disney shows such as Ahsoka And The Mandalorian and that of Lucasfilm Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – are affected by the dismissal, according to Kotaku, who first reported the resignation. Two percent of Ubisoft’s Canadian workforce was affected.
The layoffs are intended to “optimize resources to be more sustainable in the long term,” Ubisoft said in a government filing obtained by Kotaku.
“These are not decisions taken lightly and we are providing extensive support to our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition,” a Ubisoft representative said in a statement to Polygon. “We would also like to share our utmost gratitude and respect for their many contributions to the company. This restructuring will not impact our production teams.” We have printed the full answer below.
Ubisoft has cut roughly 1,300 features since September 2022. This is evident from an October earnings report, with “continued strict controls on recruitment and targeted restructuring” – i.e. layoffs. Globally, Ubisoft employed 19,410 employees in October, making it one of the largest gaming companies in the world. The Ubisoft Montreal office is home to more than 4,000 of these employees, some of whom believed that the company’s recent return to the office was essentially a “soft dismissal.” Ubisoft is looking forward to it cut the budget by $215 million while it continues in the long-delayed development hell Skull and bones.
2023 has been a devastating year for the video game industry, which has been overwhelmed by thousands of job losses since January. Just last week, Lot 2 developer Bungie has laid off 100 developers; dismissals were put on a downward trend Lot 2 player base.
Here’s Ubisoft’s full statement:
Over the past few months, every team within Ubisoft has been exploring ways to streamline our operations and improve our collective efficiency so that we are better positioned for long-term success. In this context, we announced today that we will be reorganizing the general and administrative functions of our Canadian studios and reducing headcount in Hybrid (our VFX studio based in Montreal) and in our global IT team, which in total will impact at 124 positions. These are not decisions to be made lightly and we are providing extensive support to our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition. We would also like to share our utmost gratitude and respect for their many contributions to the company. This restructuring will not affect our production teams.
As part of this transformation, 98 people, representing less than 2% of our Canadian workforce, from our business administrative services and IT team in Canada will leave Ubisoft. All affected Canadian employees will be supported through this change, including severance packages, expanded benefits where applicable, and career assistance to help them with the transition.