Today, Ubisoft is the latest developer to join 2023's wave of layoffs. According to <em><a href="https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-lays-off-124-employees-to-enhance-collective-efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">IGN</a></em>, the company laid off a total of 124 employees. 98 of them were based in Canada, which <em>IGN</em> calculates as roughly 2% of the company's Canadian workforce. The cuts included administrative and IT workers, some of whom were employed at the Hybride VFX studio, a company that has worked on shows like <em>Ahsoka</em> and <em>The Mandalorian</em>.
“These are not decisions taken lightly and we are providing comprehensive support for our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition,” the company told both IGN and Kotaku. “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.” Another quote obtained by Kotaku claims that the layoffs are to allow Ubisoft to “to optimize its resources to be more sustainable in the long term.”
This news comes after a year of several big Ubisoft releases, including Assassin’s Creed Mirage, The Crew: Motorfest, and Just Dance 2024, but that’s in spite of the fact that they canceled several games this year and delayed Skull and Bones… again. Unrest at the company has been ongoing as well: back in September, IGN reported widespread frustration after employees were suddenly called to return to in-person working conditions.
Ubisoft now joins Bungie, Media Molecule, Telltale Games, Team17, Epic Games, Naughty Dog, Microsoft, and more on the unfortunately long list of companies that have laid people off in the past year.
Source: Game Informer
