Ubisoft plans to close several studios over the next three years as part of a major restructuring of the company. The announcement came during the company's financial meeting Wednesday, where Ubisoft executives discussed refocusing the business around five “creative houses” instead of too many independent studios.
“We will also selectively close several studios and continue restructuring across the group,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said on a conference call. “These decisions are difficult, but necessary to build a more focused, efficient and sustainable organization over the long term.”
Ubisoft's pivot also includes canceling six games currently in development, including the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake. Other titles consisted of four unannounced projects, including three new IPs and one mobile game.
The announcement comes after a difficult year for the Ubisoft studio. This news comes after the recent layoffs at Massive Studios and the loss of The Division's executive producer Julian Gerighty to DICE.
Prince of Persia and 5 other games canceled by Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake delayed
Ubisoft has canceled its Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, despite expectations that it would release this year.
The company also closed its Halifax mobile studio and Stockholm studio earlier this month and began restructuring at its Abu Dhabi and RedLynx studios as part of the company's repositioning, Ubisoft CFO Frédérick Duguet said on the call.
Game Rant reached out to Ubisoft to clarify the timeline for the closure and to see if we can get more information on when the affected studios will be announced, but Ubisoft declined to comment.
What Ubisoft's Restructuring Really Means
The company's restructuring plan was presented along with an optimistic financial outlook.
Duguet shared net bookings figures of 330 million euros ($385,705,650) for the company's third quarter. Duguet credited this to stronger-than-expected partnerships and what he described as a “strong back catalogue,” even as the company prepares to reduce its studio footprint.
By comparison, Ubisoft reported net bookings of €301.8 million in the third quarter and €784 million in the nine months to 2024-25, down 33.8% from the previous year. These are $352,745,349 and $916,343,120 respectively.
As a publicly traded company, Ubisoft needs to communicate its strengths to investors. Nonetheless, the positive financial outlook, along with the announcement of studio closures and layoffs, appears to be dampening the staff affected by the restructuring.
At Massive, 55 people lost their jobs, at RedLynx 60 people were laid off and at the Abu Dhabi studio 29 people were let go. CFO Frédérick Duguet announced on the call that all Ubisoft studios would also return to office work.
Ubisoft cancels a total of six games in progress. “[These games] A more selective portfolio approach does not meet new, improved quality expectations,” Duguet said, without elaborating on the game titles.
Duguet also revealed that “important games” were being postponed from this year to next, but said he could not provide further details at the moment. Seven other titles were also postponed.
Ubisoft is putting all its eggs into this new creative house initiative, splitting the franchise into autonomous, independent studios that will have full control over Ubisoft's flagship franchises. The company plans to return to “strong cash flow generation” within the next three years under the new plan, Duguet said.
Each of these creative houses will cover a different genre. Genres include flagship series, co-op shooters, games-as-a-service, fantasy, narrative-based experiences, and family-friendly games.
Vantage Studios, a subsidiary of Ubisoft and in which Chinese conglomerate Tencent holds a 26% economic stake, will take control of Ubisoft's most popular franchises, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six, with the goal of “turning them into annual billionaire brands,” the company said in a press release.
The other houses split the remaining franchises.
Ubisoft will hold its quarterly earnings call next month on February 12th. This is where new information about layoffs and specific game delays may emerge.
