Murderer’s Creed Mirage writer Ubisoft is shedding 98 folks from its Canadian workplaces, the corporate confirmed to Polygon on Tuesday. Ubisoft’s administrative, IT, and VFX studio Hybride — which labored on Disney exhibits like Ahsoka and The Mandalorian and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — are impacted by the layoff, according to Kotaku, which first reported the layoff. Two % of Ubisoft’s Canadian workforce was impacted.
The layoffs are supposed to “optimize its sources to be extra sustainable in the long run,” Ubisoft stated in a authorities submitting obtained by Kotaku.
“These aren’t selections taken calmly and we’re offering complete help for our colleagues who will probably be leaving Ubisoft throughout this transition,” a Ubisoft consultant stated in an announcement to Polygon. “We additionally need to share our utmost gratitude and respect for his or her many contributions to the corporate. This restructuring doesn’t have an effect on our manufacturing groups.” We’ve printed the total response beneath.
Ubisoft has minimize roughly 1,300 roles since September 2022, according to an October earnings report, with “continued tight management of recruitments in addition to focused restructurings” — i.e. layoffs. Worldwide, Ubisoft reported 19,410 staff in October, making it one of many largest recreation firms worldwide. The Ubisoft Montreal workplace homes greater than 4,000 of these staff, a few of whom believed the corporate’s latest return to workplace mandate was basically a “soft layoff.” Ubisoft is seeking to cut its budget by $215 million because it continues alongside within the improvement hell of long-delayed Cranium and Bones.
2023 has been a devastating 12 months for the online game business, which has been overwhelmed with 1000’s of minimize jobs since January. Simply final week, Future 2 developer Bungie laid off 100 builders; the layoff was pinned to a declining Future 2 participant base.
Right here’s Ubisoft’s full assertion:
Over the previous few months, each staff inside Ubisoft has been exploring methods to streamline our operations and improve our collective effectivity in order that we’re higher positioned for fulfillment in the long run. On this context, right this moment we introduced that we’re reorganizing our Canadian studios’ basic and administrative features and lowering headcount in Hybride (our VFX studio primarily based in Montreal) and in our international IT staff, which impacts 124 positions total. These aren’t selections taken calmly and we’re offering complete help for our colleagues who will probably be leaving Ubisoft throughout this transition. We additionally need to share our utmost gratitude and respect for his or her many contributions to the corporate. This restructuring doesn’t have an effect on our manufacturing groups.
As a part of this transformation, 98 folks, representing lower than 2% of our Canadian workforce, from our enterprise administrative providers and IT staff in Canada will probably be leaving Ubisoft. All affected Canadian staff will probably be supported by this alteration, together with severance packages, prolonged advantages the place relevant, and profession help to assist them navigate their transition.