Ubisoft's Workforce Reductions and Voluntary Severance Offers

Massive Entertainment Reaffirms Its Commitment to The Division

In a move to restructure its teams, Ubisoft's Massive Entertainment is providing certain employees with voluntary buyout options. This strategy aims to bolster its strategic plans while concentrating on The Division franchise, the Snowdrop game engine, and Ubisoft Connect. Notably absent from this discussion are the Star Wars and Avatar games, signaling potential discontinuation of those projects.

The company characterizes this adjustment as a 'voluntary career transition initiative,' complete with monetary and professional support. Employees at the Malmö, Sweden location have the option to accept these terms until December 13, mainly targeting staff in between projects.

RedLynx Adjusts Workforce Amid Broader Corporate Strategy

Elsewhere, Ubisoft's Finnish studio, RedLynx, is also undergoing restructuring as part of the company's overarching goal to streamline, lower expenses, and enhance productivity. This change could potentially affect up to 60 roles at RedLynx.

Impact of Underperforming Titles

Due to the disappointing performance of games like Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Ubisoft has closed several offices, leading to job losses in cities like San Francisco, London, and Leamington. The company's global workforce shrank from 20,279 to 18,666 by the end of September last year.

Moreover, Tencent and Ubisoft have collaborated to launch Vantage Studios, which will manage flagship series such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.