Ubisoft Employees are planning a strike in response to recent cost-cutting efforts affecting the company's Barcelona branch, with much to be announced at the end of June 2026. The protests are planned to last several days, although they are structured to avoid a complete disruption of operations at the Ubisoft subsidiary.
Ubisoft's latest restructuring has already impacted several teams across its global network. In early June, the company confirmed further downsizing, including the closure of Ubisoft Belgrade and Winnipeg and a major restructuring of its Barcelona branch. The Spanish studio is now refocusing around: rainbow six Franchise instead of the previous scope of support work.
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Ubisoft Barcelona workers plan multiple strike days
Faced with recent workforce cuts, Ubisoft Barcelona employees are planning to strike on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons from June 30 to July 16, which would mean a total of six partial work stoppages over three weeks. The strike is a direct response to 51 Ubisoft Barcelona employees losing their jobs due to a restructuring in early June 2026. This represents approximately 28% of the studio's pre-downsizing workforce. The newly announced strike is union work and is not the first strike in 2026. A more comprehensive three-day strike was organized by Ubisoft employees in mid-February as a joint effort by five French unions.
Ubisoft Barcelona calls for strike
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New binding studio obligations protect 51 employees affected by recent downsizing
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5-year guarantee against future collective layoffs
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Immediate implementation of pre-agreed internal promotions
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Return to 60% monthly working from home ratio
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Review of salary improvement plans and welfare benefits
This strike demands a focus on strengthening job security and improving working conditions. They are seeking a binding new deal that would protect the 51 affected roles, put in place five-year safeguards against future mass redundancies, immediately implement previously agreed promotions, restore home working flexibility to 60% per month and reopen negotiations on pay rises and social benefits. It's still unclear whether Ubisoft's summer strike has any chance of achieving its goals. However, as the move currently amounts to a partial work stoppage for the first half of July 2026, the unions organizing the protest appear to be reserving the option of a wider work stoppage if management does not comply with their demands.
Demands related to the work-from-home model are older than the rest of the grounds for the upcoming strike. Ubisoft is already facing labor tensions over its return-to-work policy, with the union representing Barcelona developers previously filing a lawsuit challenging the company's November 2024 RTO order. As of June 2026, no public resolution has been reported for the incident.
Looking at the bigger picture, the timing of the summer 2026 strike is notable as Ubisoft has been trying to present its ongoing restructuring as a path toward greater stability. The company recently deepened its focus on key franchises through Tencent-backed Vantage Studios, while reorganizing its remaining subsidiaries into genre-focused “creative houses” scheduled to be announced between late 2025 and early 2026. The subsequent walkout indicates that employees are now turning against what they see as the human cost of that strategy, even as management insists it is the only path toward sustainability for the embattled developer-publisher. According to recent management announcements, Ubisoft studio closures will continue through early 2029, though not necessarily at a consistent pace.
