Ubisoft has told Game Developer it will retain some employees with 'essential skills' by offering them remote contracts.
Update (01/28/25): Ubisoft has told Game Developer that some employees from its Leamington studio will remain with the company on remote contracts. It was originally reported the entire 50-person team would be laid off.
A company spokesperson said it will retain some talent with "essential skills" but noted that around 100 employees will likely be laid off across its two sites in Leamington and Newcastle. They also confirmed the proposed closure of the Leamington office.
Original story: Ubisoft is laying off 185 workers and closing its studio in Leamington, UK.
The Assassin's Creed publisher confirmed the news in a statement to Eurogamer and explained Leamington's entire 50-person team is being culled.
Ubisoft Leamington was formerly known as Activision Blizzard studio FreeStyleGames. It was acquired by Ubisoft in 2017 and worked on titles including Tom Clancy's The Division and Far Cry 5.
Other Ubisoft offices in Dusseldorf, Stockholm, and Newcastle (the latter of which is perhaps better known as Grow Home and The Crew developer Ubisoft Reflections) are also being downsized.
"As part of our ongoing efforts to prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft, we have announced targeted restructurings at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections and the permanent closure of Ubisoft Leamington site," said a company spokesperson.
"Unfortunately, this should impact 185 employees overall. We are deeply grateful for their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition."
Earlier this month, Ubisoft said it would take "decisive steps" to reshape its business and focus on delivering quality products. It said that transformation would require "significant cost reductions" but stopped short of confirming layoffs.
"We made good progress on the strategic and execution reviews initiated a few months ago and are confident that this will position Ubisoft for a stronger future," said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot at the time.
"We have taken decisive steps to reshape the Group in order to deliver best–in–class player experiences, enhance operational efficiency and maximize value creation."
Guillemot also confirmed Ubisoft had appointed advisors to review and pursue various "strategic and capitalistic options."
Last year, it was reported that Ubisoft majority stakeholders the Guillemots were exploring buyout options with Chinese conglomerate Tencent. Ubisoft refused to comment on those rumblings during a recent strategic update.
Ubisoft's decision to kick an entire studio and almost 200 workers to the curb comes around two months after the publisher canned live-service shooter xDefiant and closed development studios in Osaka and San Francisco.
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