Ubisoft has announced another round of layoffs, following the closure of Ubisoft London. Around 124 jobs are being cut worldwide, with employees at Ubisoft Montreal in Canada facing the biggest losses. Per Ubisoft, around 98 employees will be laid off at the studio, with many hailing from business administrative services and IT teams.
As previously reported, this is only the latest layoff initiated by Ubisoft in the last few months, with the company announcing the closure of its London office in September 2023, and cutting customer service staff earlier in the year.
“Over the past few months, every team within Ubisoft has been exploring ways to streamline our operations and enhance our collective efficiency so that we are better positioned for success in the long term,” Ubisoft said, per Eurogamer.
“In this context, today we announced that we are reorganising our Canadian studios’ general and administrative functions and reducing headcount in Hybride (our VFX studio based in Montreal) and in our global IT team, which impacts 124 positions overall. These are not decisions taken lightly and we are providing comprehensive support for our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition. We also want to share our utmost gratitude and respect for their many contributions to the company. This restructuring does not affect our production teams.”
Read: Ubisoft London set to close, with more than 50 staff facing layoffs
This latest round of layoffs is fairly unexpected, as Ubisoft had reported strong financial results in the last quarter. Overall, it reported growth of around 17.6% in net bookings – a result described as “well above target” – with Assassin’s Creed Mirage launching to strong sales, and legacy titles like Rainbow Six Siege continuing to perform “remarkably.”
A note in the latest Ubisoft financial reports even described its upcoming quarter as one of “overperformance” with “positive momentum” building confidence in the company’s future. Ubisoft said it was performing so well, it could delay an upcoming “large game” without impact on the expectations for operating income in the next quarter.
In the same report, Ubisoft noted a “cost reduction plan” was “well on track” and that it had reduced its employee headcount from 20,729 to 19,410 in a single year period.
Our thoughts are with those impacted by Ubisoft’s latest round of layoffs.
