Okay, look. We gotta talk about Ubisoft. Again. Because just when you thought maybe, just maybe, they were done with the whole “re-organizing” thing (which is, let’s be real, corporate speak for “firing a bunch of people”), they pull this stunt. Another round of proposed layoffs. Less than a week after they shuttered studios and killed a bunch of games. Seriously? You gotta be kidding me.

“Restructuring” Is Just a Fancy Word for… This

I saw the Engadget piece, and honestly, my eyes just rolled right out of my head. It’s like a broken record, only instead of a catchy tune, it’s the sound of people losing their jobs. They’re calling it “adapting to evolving market trends.” Yeah, right. “Evolving market trends” that apparently involve laying off an unspecified number of folks in their Canadian publishing and global solutions teams. That’s real specific, isn’t it? “Unspecified.” So, basically, we don’t know who or how many, just that more are going to get the boot. After they already let go of 1,500 people in the last 18 months. And closed studios in London, Newcastle, and even down in North Carolina.

And let’s not forget, just last week they confirmed they’re canning The Division Heartland. Remember that? The free-to-play spin-off nobody really asked for, but hey, it was a thing. And now it’s not. All to “reallocate resources” to “bigger opportunities.” I swear, these buzzwords… they’re like a game of corporate bingo, except the prize is unemployment.

The thing is, this isn’t just about Ubisoft being, well, Ubisoft. This is about a pattern. A really ugly, depressing pattern. And it’s not like the games are suddenly flying off the shelves, right? Skull and Bones finally came out after, what, a decade in development hell? And it was… fine? Barely? It didn’t exactly set the world on fire, did it? And then you’ve got the next Assassin’s Creed game, Codename Hexe, which sounds cool, I guess, but who knows when we’ll actually see it. They’re just constantly scrambling, chasing trends, and burning through talent in the process.

The Never-Ending Re-Org Cycle

I’ve been covering this industry for fifteen years, and I’ve seen companies go through tough times. But Ubisoft? It feels like they’re in a permanent state of “tough times.” They’re always “optimizing.” Always “streamlining.” Always “re-focusing.” And every single time, it means real people losing their livelihoods. People who put years, sometimes decades, into making these games. You gotta wonder what kind of message that sends to the folks who are left.

You know, the ones still working on whatever “bigger opportunities” they’ve suddenly decided are the path forward. How motivated are you gonna be when you know the axe could fall again, literally next week? It’s gotta be demoralizing as hell. And it just makes for worse games in the long run, if I’m being honest. Creative teams need stability. They need to feel valued. Not like a line item on a spreadsheet that can be cut at a moment’s notice.

But Seriously, What’s the Plan Here?

That’s the question that keeps nagging at me. What is the grand strategy? Because from the outside, it looks like they’re just flailing. They tried to pivot hard into live-service games, and most of those didn’t quite land. They’ve got the behemoth that is Assassin’s Creed, which is still a money-maker, sure, but how many different flavors of historical parkour can you make before people get bored? And then there’s the whole issue with the company culture, the allegations of misconduct, the founders stepping down and then… not really going away. It’s a mess. A really, really big mess.

“It feels like Ubisoft is stuck in a loop, chasing market trends instead of setting them, and the cost is always borne by the people who actually make the games. It’s a tragedy, honestly.”

They talk about “delivering value to shareholders.” And yeah, that’s what public companies do. But there’s a human cost to that constant pursuit of “value” at any cost. And it’s not just Ubisoft. We’re seeing this across the entire tech and gaming industry right now. Massive layoffs everywhere, even at hugely profitable companies. But Ubisoft just seems to be… particularly bad at it. Or particularly frequent. Like they’re just constantly trying to right a ship that’s always taking on water, and their solution is to throw people overboard.

What This Actually Means

So, here’s the deal. For us, the players, it probably means more safe bets. Fewer experimental games. More Assassin’s Creed and maybe another Far Cry. Because when you’re constantly cutting costs and chasing those “bigger opportunities,” you don’t take risks. You stick to what you think will sell, even if it’s kinda bland. And that’s a damn shame, because Ubisoft used to be a company known for taking chances. Remember things like Rayman? Or even the early Splinter Cell games? They had character. They had a unique vision. Now? It’s hard to see that through all the “restructuring” dust.

For the people actually working there, it means stress. Uncertainty. And probably a lot of good, talented developers looking to jump ship as soon as they can. And honestly, who could blame them? If your employer keeps telling you they need to make cuts, even when they’re still making money, it doesn’t exactly inspire loyalty. It inspires fear.

And what does it say about the future of a company that seems to be in a perpetual state of crisis? I don’t know, man. It’s not a pretty picture. And I’m pretty sure we’ll be having this exact same conversation about Ubisoft again in six months. Probably sooner.