Ubisoft is closing its studio in Leamington and cutting jobs at its Blue Byte studio in Düsseldorf. The French games company confirmed this to Videogameschronicle. The cuts are intended to ensure the long-term stability of the company, Ubisoft wrote in a statement.
The measures will affect 185 employees, Ubisoft told Videogameschronicle. While the studio in Leamington will be closed, „targeted restructuring“ will take place at Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Reflections in Newcastle.
Ubisoft’s Düsseldorf studio was long known as Blue Byte and made a name for itself primarily with the „The Settlers“ games. The latest installment in the series, „The Settlers: New Alliances“, received moderate reviews after a turbulent development history.
Months of Ubisoft crisis
Ubisoft has been in a deep crisis for months after several titles fell short of expectations. Long-standing developments such as „Sea of Thieves“ and „Star Wars Outlaws“ sold only sluggishly, while the upcoming „Assassin’s Creed“ game „Shadows“ had to be postponed several times. The French company’s share price fell by 40 percent last year.
Ubisoft therefore wants to cut costs: More than 200 million euros in fixed costs are to be saved in the 2025/2026 financial year compared to the 2022/2023 financial year. Part of the savings program is the reduction of jobs and studios.
In a recent call with investors, Guillemot spoke of several ways out of the crisis – but did not want to answer multiple skeptical questions about what these ways might look like. One hope apparently lies in finding a buyer. The Chinese tech group Tencent in particular is considered a possible takeover candidate for Ubisoft. Tencent owns 9.2 percent of Ubisoft shares as well as 49.9 percent of the holding company owned by the family of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
(dahe)
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This article was originally published in
It was translated with technical assistance and editorially reviewed before publication.
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