Ubisoft cuts jobs to keep ambitious roadmap afloat

Ubisoft , a major game publisher behind popular titles such as the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry series, has laid off 33 employees at its Toronto studio in Canada, gaming media PC Gamer reports.

Less than a month after joining work on the Sands of Time remake, Ubisoft Toronto lays off 33 employees to ensure it can deliver on its ambitious roadmap | PC Gamer
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/less-than-a-month-after-joining-work-on-the-sands-of-time-remake-ubisoft-toronto-lays-off-33-employees-to-ensure-it-can-deliver-on-its-ambitious-roadmap/

Ubisoft lays off 30+ Ubisoft Toronto devs so it can 'deliver on its ambitious roadmap' | Eurogamer.net
https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-lays-off-30-ubisoft-toronto-devs-so-it-can-deliver-on-its-ambitious-roadmap

A representative from Ubisoft's Toronto studio issued a statement to PC Gamer saying, 'Ubisoft Toronto has decided to undergo a targeted reorganization to ensure we can deliver on our ambitious roadmap. Unfortunately, this decision will mean 33 team members will be leaving Ubisoft. We are committed to providing comprehensive support, including severance pay and career assistance, to help them through this decision.'

Since early 2023, the gaming industry has been cutting jobs due to the recession, but game companies often use words like 'growth' and 'for the future' as excuses to justify these cuts. Take -Two Interactive, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto, cut jobs in April 2024 to 'streamline its pipeline.' Phil Spencer of Xbox, Microsoft's gaming division, also said in March 2024 that ' the lack of growth across the industry is the reason for continued cuts in jobs in the gaming industry .'

Grand Theft Auto series publisher Take-Two Interactive lays off 5% of all employees and cancels multiple projects - GIGAZINE

In addition, Square Enix is reducing its workforce in May 2024 in order to strengthen its focus on the PC gaming market and actively pursue the development of multi-platform games.

PC Gamer points out that this layoff is particularly surprising, given that Ubisoft Toronto is currently working on the Splinter Cell remake and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. A representative from Ubisoft Toronto commented, 'Our plans remain unchanged, and the team is working to deliver the Splinter Cell remake and other projects,' emphasizing that the studio's ongoing development will not be affected.

According to game media Eurogamer.net, 10,800 people are unemployed in the game industry as of the end of May 2024. The total number of unemployed people in 2023 is 10,500, so the trend in the number of unemployed people in 2024 will be much higher than in 2023. Chris Dring of GamesIndustry.biz commented, 'Labor cuts in the game industry will slow down. Most of the major companies have already started and we hope they don't have to do any more. But the pain is not over yet.'