Ubisoft could be the next publisher affected by layoffs
, by Thibaut
In a recent long article, Insider Gaming took stock of the situation at Ubisoft. With over 19,000 employees, the French publisher is the sixth largest company in the video game industry.
Unfortunately, morale is currently at an all-time low. Several internal sources wishing to remain anonymous explain that many fear an inevitable restructuring is on the horizon. This would lead to even more redundancies, after the 124 already recorded last November. Statements collected by Insider Gaming claim that further departures are imminent.
Many are pointing the finger at Ubisoft's excessive desire to follow market trends. The commercial failure of several games, the development of battle royale to excess and the aborted launch of a platform dedicated to NFT (Ubisoft Quartz) are said to have cost the multinational dearly. Not to mention lengthy production times for titles such as Beyond Good and Evil 2, XDefiant and Skull and Bones. The latter is said to have a budget of $200 million, which will probably be difficult to recoup.
Finally, the article also highlights the fact that Ubisoft is still focusing on extraction shooters. This is the case for The Division Heartland, the new Far Cry known internally as "Project Maverick", and an unreleased license set during the Second World War. The latter is not due for release until around 2026 / 2027.
Source: insider-gaming.com