Ubisoft Barcelona staff face layoffs despite Black Flag Resynced success
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Ubisoft is planning to cut 51 jobs at Ubisoft Barcelona, even though Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced has launched strongly and the studio contributed to it. The move matters because it highlights the disconnect staff say they feel between a game’s commercial success and job security, and it adds to continuing concerns about layoffs across the games industry.
According to PC Gamer, Black Flag Resynced sold two million copies in a day and set a new peak concurrent player record for the series on Steam, by nearly 40,000. Ubisoft Barcelona, which worked on the game’s underwater sections, was told about a collective redundancy plan after more than two and a half years on the project, staff said. The cuts were reportedly announced last month alongside reductions at Ubisoft teams in Winnipeg and Belgrade, and the Spanish union CGT has called a three-day strike in response.
- Ubisoft Barcelona faces 51 layoffs after a hit launch
- Staff say success has not protected their jobs
- A three-day strike has been called over the cuts
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Ubisoft Barcelona is one of several studios operated by the French games giant Ubisoft, and it worked on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a refreshed version of the popular pirate-themed game. Ubisoft as a whole has been cutting jobs across various sites in recent years, part of a wider pattern of layoffs affecting the video games industry.
The particular tension here is timing: Ubisoft Barcelona staff were reportedly informed of the planned job cuts even as the game they helped create was performing well commercially. CGT, a Spanish trade union, represents some of the affected workers and has organised strike action over the redundancy plan.
This matters because it touches on a recurring debate in the games industry about how job security relates to a title's success, and because Ubisoft has faced scrutiny over its restructuring decisions at multiple studios, including ones in Winnipeg and Belgrade, in addition to Barcelona.
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Originally published by PC Gamer as “‘The company has turned its back on us’: Black Flag Resynced developers at Ubisoft Barcelona are being laid off instead of celebrating the series’ latest hit”.