Ubisoft has confirmed that they will be closing the UK studio based in Leamington, with 185 jobs being impacted across the board. In total, 100 of the jobs impacted are from the UK. As a result of these layoffs, the Leamington studio will be closed. Aside from them, Ubisoft offices such as Dusseldorf, Stockholm, and Newcastle will be impacted as they all experience downsizing. Considering the reason they have for these layoffs, it's unlikely that the staff impacted will be given job opportunities within the company, especially considering the situation that Ubisoft finds themselves in.
"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, Dusseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm, and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site," said a Ubisoft spokesperson in a statement to Eurogamer. The statement confirmed that this will be impacting 185 employees in total and finishes the statement by saying, "We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition."
Although layoffs anywhere are horrible and distressing, we knew that this was coming, as it was spoken about last year that Ubisoft would be restructuring their studios and potentially laying off more staff in February. This news comes after they confirmed that Ubisoft would be closing their live-service shooter XDefiant, in addition to delays to Assassin's Creed Shadows.
With these announcements coming from Ubisoft, the audience has now become increasingly concerned about the quality of their products and the longevity of the company. Star Wars Outlaws, a game they funneled a significant amount of money into, failed massively and didn't recoup anywhere near enough money in revenue. Since 2022, Ubisoft has continuously laid off staff. It went from a number of 20,279 people to 18,666 by the end of September 2024.
As a result of their continuous failures, Ubisoft has mentioned that they were taking "decisive steps" to reshape the company and try to build it back up and make it successful. They don't have the players at the forefront of this decision, though. Instead, they are focused on making sure the company is in top state for the stakeholders, providing the best value for them.
Last year, it was suggested that Ubisoft was going to go private, with investment from Chinese giant Tencent. However, it seems that Yves Guillemot isn't too fond of that idea and wants to keep control of the company, which wouldn't be possible if it was taken under the wing of Tencent.
Assassin's Creed Shadows releases on 20 March 2025, and it's very clear that they are hoping this game will be a significant money maker.
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