On top of the restructuring and a new €200mil cost-cutting drive, Ubisoft also cancelled six games in development and said seven more upcoming titles would be delayed. — AFP
PARIS: French video games giant Ubisoft said Monday it aims to shed up to 200 staff at its Paris headquarters, days after investors gave a frosty reception to a drastic restructuring plan.
Managers told AFP they would seek voluntary departure agreements covering that number of employees, a sizeable chunk of the 1,100 in Paris and around 5% of the group's French workforce.
Although Ubisoft has slashed around 3,000 jobs in recent years, shrinking headcount to 17,000 worldwide, almost none of the cuts had fallen in its home country.
"There will be no final decision until a collective agreement has been reached with worker representatives and approved by the French authorities," Ubisoft said.
The planned job cuts announcement follows Ubisoft's commitment to reorganise many of its dozens of development studios around the world into "creative houses" focused around different game genres.
On top of the restructuring and a new €200mil (US$240mil/RM950mil) cost-cutting drive, Ubisoft also cancelled six games in development and said seven more upcoming titles would be delayed.
Fans were particularly vocal online about the scrapping of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, a remake of a historic Ubisoft hit.
The moves left the company facing an operating loss of around one billion euros in its 2025-26 financial year, bosses said.
Financial woes and multiple disappointing game releases have already prompted Ubisoft to make €300mil in annual savings and close studios, including in San Franciso, Stockholm, Osaka, Halifax in Canada and Leamington in the UK.
Investors sent Ubisoft's stock plunging on Thursday, the day after the strategy was revealed, in its worst intraday performance ever.
At around €4.50 (RM22) Monday, the shares are down around 30% so far in 2026 and over 95% in five years, trading at around €85 (RM400) in January 2021. – AFP
