Ubisoft Confirms Layoffs Across Canadian Studios Including Ubisoft Montreal and Quebec
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The French video game developer Ubisoft has confirmed that it is laying off 98 employees from its IT department, general and administrative teams, and special effects studio Hybride, located across its various Canadian offices. This marks the fourth round of layoffs for Ubisoft this year, following cuts in its and and the full-on closure of its .
The Montreal office is one of Ubisoft's largest studios, and is best known for 2020's and 2022's . Earlier this year, it revealed it'd the remake of which is in development alongside an Assassin's Creed game codenamed . In October, Ubisoft revealed Montreal (the city) would serve as the for its various North American offices.
In a notice to the Quebec government, Ubisoft said that the layoffs are part of a "reorganization of its production support services across Canada" and that it is consolidating its functions to be more sustainable in the long term.
These layoffs come after an report alleging discord at following the parent company's semi-reversal on its initiated during the early days of the pandemic. Employees must now come to the office two days of the five-day work week, which many speculate was part of a larger effort to get staff to leave without having to pay severance. They further claimed that pre-pandemic, working at the office could be taxing due to noise complaints and lack of accessibility accommodations.
Many have expressed concerns that the layoffs and reorganization of Ubisoft's production support services in Canada could lead to further issues with workplace conditions, both in terms of the physical office space and the that still hang over the larger company. It remains to be seen how Ubisoft will address these issues and if it will be able to provide a better working environment for its employees.
