Ubisoft closes another 2 studios, lays off hundreds more employees

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot speaks at Ubisoft's Forward conference at The Belasco in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2024. Generative AI will profoundly change how video games are created and played, but its capital costs are a serious hurdle, the CEO of French gaming giant Ubisoft told AFP on June 10. Speaking at a Los Angeles event showcasing upcoming releases, Yves Guillemot said generative AI, or Gen AI, could make open-world games like Ubisoft's blockbuster "Assassin's Creed" franchise feel even "more alive." (Photo by David SWANSON / AFP) (Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images) — (Image credit: Photo by DAVID SWANSON/AFP via Getty Images)

son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot Ubisoft is closing two more studios, in Winnipeg and Belgrade, and making more layoffs throughout the company as part of its ongoing effort to reduce costs and keep the lights on. A source familiar with the matter said the cuts will see up to 380 people put out of work.

The layoffs appear to have landed particularly heavily on Ubisoft's Barcelona studio, which an Insider Gaming report says will see 51 people let go. Mataoui Chakib Souleyman, a programmer at Ubisoft Paris, said on LinkedIn that the number represents 28% of Ubisoft Barcelona's workforce. As part of the restructuring, the studio, which had previously worked on a wide range of Ubisoft properties including Assassin's Creed, The Crew, Ghost Recon, and Immortals: Fenyx Rising, will also shift its focus exclusively to the Rainbow Six franchise.

The closures and layoffs are the latest bad news for Ubisoft employees, coming amidst an ongoing restructuring in which the founding Guillemot family is struggling furiously to retain control of the company while hundreds, and probably thousands, of rank-and-file employees lose their jobs. At the same time, Ubisoft is leaning ever-harder into AI, and investing heavily into generative AI in particular, despite continued pushback against the adoption of the technology in videogames.

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The reorganization has Ubisoft divided internally into five "creative houses," each responsible for a portion of the company's properties; the largest creative house (and the only one with a proper name), Vantage Studios, is headed by Charlie Guillemot, son of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.

The shakeup has also seen the departure of a number of high-level creatives, including former Assassin's Creed franchise boss Marc-Alexis Côté, former Assassin's Creed Hexe creative director Clint Hocking, and former Assassin's Creed Hexe game director Benoit Richer. Côté later sued Ubisoft for nearly $1 million, alleging that he was fired improperly.

A report by French site LesEchos claims that further cuts at Ubisoft's American operations are expected. We'll update with any further developments as they happen.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.