Ubisoft has confirmed one other spherical of layoffs which have hit its San Francisco and Cary studios, the latter being higher referred to as Purple Storm Leisure. That is the second spherical of layoffs to hit the writer this 12 months, though these are the primary to have an effect on these two studios particularly.
Ubisoft lays off 45 workers between the 2 studios
Ubisoft Leisure has laid off 45 workers between Ubisoft San Francisco and Purple Storm Leisure in the present day, August 16. The breakdown between the 2 studios is unconfirmed, though social media posts appear to recommend the bulk have befallen Purple Storm.
In a press release to Bloomberg, Ubisoft stated the “tough but crucial determination was made to align these studios’ organizations with their future enterprise and growth aims.” The layoffs are efficient instantly and have left these affected scrambling to seek out new employment regardless of Ubisoft providing severance packages and profession help.
Ubisoft San Francisco is the studio behind free-to-play multiplayer area shooter XDefiant in addition to the Rocksmith franchise. In the meantime, Purple Storm Leisure is the studio behind free-to-play shooter The Division Heartland, though this recreation was canceled earlier this 12 months. Beforehand it had labored on the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six franchises. LinkedIn posts present layoffs have affected a various vary of roles together with Artistic Director Keith Evans, a spread of recreation designers, and advertising and marketing.
That is the second spherical of job cuts to hit Ubisoft this 12 months after 45 members of workers had been laid off from its International Publishing central and APAC (Asia-Pacific) constructions. Final 12 months, layoffs hit customer support roles at its North Carolina and Newcastle (UK) studios, its neighborhood and social media groups, Ubisoft Montreal, and particular results studio Hybride. Additionally they closed Ubisoft London utterly.
Throughout its full-year monetary ends in Might, Ubisoft revealed it had lowered its workers whole headcount by 1700 roles since 2022. About 1,000 of these had been workers cuts.