In the year of layoffs, there are no signs of stopping the trend anytime soon. Today, Ubisoft announced that layoffs at their Montreal branch would leave 98 employees without jobs in the company. This follows the most recent news of Bungie laying off numerous employees.
The news was first reported by Kotaku, who received a statement directly from Ubisoft regarding the cuts:
Over the past few months, every team within Ubisoft has been exploring ways to streamline our operations and enhance our collective efficiency so that we are better positioned for success in the long term. In this context, today we announced that we are reorganizing our Canadian studios’ general and administrative functions and reducing headcount in Hybride (our VFX studio based in Montreal) and in our global IT team, which impacts 124 positions overall. These are not decisions taken lightly and we are providing comprehensive support for our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition. We also want to share our utmost gratitude and respect for their many contributions to the company. This restructuring does not affect our production teams.
What does it mean for Canada?
As part of this transformation, 98 people, representing less than 2% of our Canadian workforce, from our business administrative services and IT team will be leaving Ubisoft. All affected Canadian employees will be supported through this change, including severance packages, extended benefits where applicable, and career assistance to help them navigate their transition.
As explained in the statement, the layoffs are a result of the company’s reorganization efforts that affect its administrative, IT, and VFX teams in the Montreal offices and beyond. It’s unfortunate that this reorganizing has resulted in the loss of nearly 100 employees, but it’s not uncommon to see positions get cut when something like this occurs.
This is far from the first announcement of layoffs this year, and it’s almost certainly not going to be the last. In the past six months alone, we’ve seen Media Molecule, Naughty Dog, Crystal Dynamics, and even Epic Games cut down on employees, not to mention many others. It’s a truly scary time for anyone looking to break into the gaming industry or pursue game development as a career, and it’s even scarier for those already in the industry. Most of them likely have no idea whether they’ll still have their job in a year’s time.
As Ubisoft continues to reduce its headcount, it also continues to delay its games. You can read about the latest delay of Skull and Bones here.
Source: Kotaku