Ubisoft Closing Down Another Studio That Worked On Major Titles, Which Will Affect At Least 185 Employees

The video game industry was hit with news of more layoffs as Ubisoft shut down one of its support studios. The Assasin's Creed developer has studios all over the world, but to cut costs, they shuttered one of their studios in the United Kingdom and downsized another.

Ubisoft explained, via Eurogamer, that the publisher's latest cost-cutting measures will impact 185 employees overall. This comes at a troubling time for Ubisoft as the company has been shedding jobs across its business since 2022. According to Eurogamer, by the end of September 2024, Ubisoft employed 18,666 people, down from 20,279 employees just two years ago. Further, Ubisoft has had a string of disappointing releases, including Star Wars Outlaws, which has led to lower revenue than expected.

Ubisoft Closes Leamington Studio Known For Working On Far Cry & Outlaws

The Company Shuttered One Of Its Two Locations In The UK

Ubisoft closed its studio in Leamington, England, on Monday after purchasing the company in 2017 from Activision. As a part of Ubisoft, the Leamington studio was known for its work as a support studio for Tom Clancy's The Division series, Far Cry 5, Skull and Bones, and Star Wars Outlaws. In particular, Outlaws was the most recent disappointment for Ubisoft as it significantly underperformed sales expectations. In European markets last year, the game sold fewer copies than Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which came out in 2023.

According to Eurogamer, Ubisoft Leamington was founded in 2002 as FreeStyleGames and, as a part of Activision, it was best known for its DJ Hero games. The studio also found itself in a similar role as Activision when it was given the role of support studio and worked on the publisher's massive Call of Duty and Guitar Hero franchises. Ubisoft Leamington was the only studio shut down as the company shifted its priorities to cost-cutting. This is also amidst another delay to Assasin's Creed Shadows, which pushed the game out to March.

Ubisoft Says "Targeted Restructuring" Is The Reason Behind Layoffs

The Publisher Is Focusing Its Efforts On Cutting Costs

In a statement to Eurogamer, a Ubisoft spokesperson explained that laying off 185 employees and shuttering Ubisoft Leamington was part of several "targeted restructurings" to its studios. The other impacted studios included Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm, and the UK-based Ubisoft Reflections. All of these studios worked to support other AAA projects, with Ubisoft Düsseldorf developing Anno and The Settlers and Ubisoft Stockholm previously supporting Massive Entertainment's development of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Ubisoft finds itself in a tough spot in 2025, and will heavily rely on Assassin's Creed Shadows to change the company's financial outlook. While a recent preview of Assassin's Creed Shadows is giving some room for hope, it's hard to see how one game can change the entire company's fortunes. Ubisoft's announcements, like at last year's Ubisoft Forward, were underwhelming and the publisher is letting go of key talent that worked on its massive AAA games. Where Ubisoft goes next will depend on more than just one game being a hit with fans.

Sources: Eurogamer