Ubisoft has been experiencing a severe fall from grace as of late, as the French video game titan has suffered major backlash against one of its premier franchises, faced several reports and rumours about its financial position and what the future holds, and also laid off staff and closed down studios around the world. Today's narrative fits the latter category once again.
It has been reported by Eurogamer that Ubisoft has decided to cut 185 jobs around the world, with this supposedly affecting employees in the UK, Germany, and Sweden. It's mentioned that the Newcastle-based Ubisoft Reflections and its Dusseldorf and Stockholm offices are being downsized, all while the Leamington Spa studio is being shut down entirely. It's stated that a few members of the Leamington Spa staff are being kept on retainer with remote contracts, but the majority are being made redundant.
Ubisoft has issued a statement on these changes, adding that it's part of "ongoing efforts to prioritise projects and reduce costs that ensure long-term stability at Ubisoft," and that it is "deeply grateful" for the "contributions" that the 185 laid off staff have made over the years.
While the Leamington Spa studio has been tasked to be a support studio in recent memory, it was formerly known as FreeStyleGames and was regarded for its work on the DJ Hero series when it was part of Activision, before being sold to Ubisoft in 2017.