Ubisoft Continues Cost-Cutting, Lays Off Staff and Closes Studio
Jakarta (ANTARA) — French games developer and publisher Ubisoft plans further redundancies following a series of workforce reductions throughout the year.
Engadget reported on Wednesday (14 October), local time, that the company intends to close its RedLynx studio in Finland, cut around 100 jobs in Germany and lay off a fifth of the staff at Ubisoft Singapore.
Ubisoft said the reduction of 70 jobs at Ubisoft Singapore was intended to align the studio’s capacity with future production needs. The company nevertheless stressed that the studio would continue to play an important role in its global production network.
Both RedLynx and Ubisoft Singapore have provided production support to other Ubisoft studios. The two were placed in the Creative Network division as part of a restructuring announced by the company last year.
Ubisoft acquired RedLynx, developer of the Trials game series, in 2011. The company also cut dozens of jobs at the studio last year.
RedLynx’s latest game was Gwen’s Getaway, a puzzle and decoration game for mobile devices. It received a limited release in 2023 before Ubisoft cancelled it the following year.
The game eventually launched in early 2024 after several delays, although its market response was reportedly unimpressive.
In a separate report, Ubisoft plans to cut around 100 jobs in Germany, where it has about 600 employees across three studios.
The German studios have focused on supporting the development of large-scale games and leading work on the The Settlers and Anno series. The Mainz studio is responsible for Anno 117: Pax Romana, due in 2025.
Ubisoft has reportedly offered employees voluntary departure options and hopes to avoid compulsory redundancies.
The sweeping cost-cutting measures have led Ubisoft to cancel at least six game projects and close several other studios this year, including those in Winnipeg, Canada, and Belgrade, Serbia.
Ubisoft also shut its Halifax studio just two weeks after workers there formed a union, and cut staff at Massive Entertainment, developer of Star Wars Outlaws, as well as at Ubisoft Stockholm and its Paris headquarters.