Scalpers have started selling the PlayStation Portal for inflated prices, due to the gadget selling out at launch.
07.11.2023 - 18:25 / ign.com / Lays Off / Ubisoft
Ubisoft has laid off 124 individuals today in an effort "to streamline our operations and enhance our collective efficiency," according to the company.
In a release this morning, Ubisoft confirmed that it was reorganizing its Canadian studios in a move that was impacting a total of 124 positions total, 98 of which were based in Canada - roughly 2% of its Canadian workforce. Per Ubisoft, those laid off came from the business administrative services and IT teams, both across the Hybride VFX studio in Montreal and the global IT team.
"These are not decisions taken lightly and we are providing comprehensive support for our colleagues who will be leaving Ubisoft during this transition," the company said. "We also want to share our utmost gratitude and respect for their many contributions to the company. This restructuring does not affect our production teams."
Ubisoft has already undergone multiple rounds of layoffs this year, including the closure of mobile studio Ubisoft London and a wave of customer service layoffs back in May. It's also canceled multiple projects this year and last, and significantly delayed others such as the repeatedly-pushed Skull and Bones.
And just a few months ago, we reported on a wave of employee anger at Ubisoft Montreal after the company announced a mandatory return-to-office for most employees. Employees reported having been reassured repeatedly they could remain remote indefinitely, and some said they had made major life decisions such as house purchases outside the city as a result. Many speculated that this decision was effectively a soft layoffs in the form of an unpopular policy that would push employees to quit and reduce headcount without Ubisoft having to pay severance.
Ubisoft's most recent earnings report included quarterly net bookings of €554.8 million ($584.1 million), up 36.6% year-over-year, with a record launch reported for The Crew: Motorfest.
Also notably, the company announced in May that it was partnering with NFT firm Integral Reality Labs to create 3D-printed Assassin's Creed NFTs. At the time, no release date for the collectibles was given, but the line was suddenly announced today via a press release that arrived almost simultaneous with the layoff news. The collectibles consist of tiny cubes with customizable figurines of Assassin's Creed characters inside, which are embedded with an NFC chip that will supposedly connect to an unreleased companion app in the future. Each cube costs $100. NFTs have been notably unpopular with the gaming audience, and have since been tanking in value - though some gaming companies are continuing on anyway.
Today's layoffs at Ubisoft continue an ongoing wave of mass industry layoffs that have impacted thousands of jobs in the
Scalpers have started selling the PlayStation Portal for inflated prices, due to the gadget selling out at launch.
Games giant Valve has revealed its plan to stop bots and resellers from dominating sales of its upcoming Steam OLED.
180 employees in Amazon's video game division are being let go today, according to Aftermath's Nathan Grayson.
Amazon is reportedly laying off 180 workers from its games division.
Amazon is laying off 180 jobs in its games division, hopping on the tragically overcrowded bandwagon of layoffs in the game industry this year. The news comes viaAftermath, which reports that the layoffs are focused in two areas – the Crown Twitch channel, which will reportedly be eliminated altogether, and the game growth teams. Employees were notified of the changes through an email from Christoph Hartman, VP of Amazon Games. This is the second wave of layoffs this division of the company has faced this year.
It’s been confirmed that 124 more jobs have been cut at Ubisoft — this time across IT teams and business administrative services. The company has already seen multiple waves layoffs this year.
French publishing giant Ubisoft is making cuts to its Canadian offices.
By Emma Roth, a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.
2023 continues to be the year of major video game layoffs as Ubisoft confirmed today that it has laid off 124 employees, several of them at its Montreal studios. According to Ubisoft, the employees are primarily in business administration and IT teams, and these layoffs are part of its efforts to “streamline our operations and enhance our collective efficiency.”
The game industry has suffered yet another round of layoffs, as Ubisoft confirms that it has cut 124 employees worldwide as part of an ongoing restructuring effort. The bulk of that number, 98 in total, were let go from Ubisoft's business administrative services and IT in Canada, as well as the Hybride VFX studio in Montreal.
Today, Ubisoft will lay off 124 employees as part of a cost cutting strategy. These departures are happening across several of its departments, including many at its Canadian offices.
Former employees of Keywords Studios who unionized under the banner of Keywords Edmonton United are planning to strike outside of BioWare's Edmonton headquarters on November 7, beginning around 11AM to 12PM local time. The striking union members—who had previously been working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf before BioWare ended its contract with their employer—are protesting what they describe as an unfair termination by Keywords that they say was motivated by their unionization efforts.