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, based on Kotaku, which first reported the layoff. Two % of Ubisoft’s Canadian workforce was impacted.
The layoffs are meant to “optimize its assets to be extra sustainable in the long run,” Ubisoft mentioned in a authorities submitting obtained by Kotaku.
“These usually are not selections taken frivolously and we’re offering complete assist for our colleagues who will likely be leaving Ubisoft throughout this transition,” a Ubisoft consultant mentioned in a press release to Polygon. “We additionally wish 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 reduce roughly 1,300 roles since September 2022, based on an October earnings report, with “continued tight management of recruitments in addition to focused restructurings” — i.e. layoffs. Worldwide, Ubisoft reported 19,410 workers in October, making it one of many largest recreation corporations 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 “smooth layoff.” Ubisoft is trying to reduce its finances by $215 million because it continues alongside within the improvement hell of long-delayed Cranium and Bones.
2023 has been a devastating yr for the online game business, which has been overwhelmed with 1000’s of reduce 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 achievement in the long run. On this context, in the present day we introduced that we’re reorganizing our Canadian studios’ basic and administrative capabilities and lowering headcount in Hybride (our VFX studio primarily based in Montreal) and in our international IT staff, which impacts 124 positions total. These usually are not selections taken frivolously and we’re offering complete assist for our colleagues who will likely be leaving Ubisoft throughout this transition. We additionally wish 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 likely be leaving Ubisoft. All affected Canadian workers will likely be supported via this variation, together with severance packages, prolonged advantages the place relevant, and profession help to assist them navigate their transition.
