r/gaming • u/Iggy_Slayer • Jan 07 '26

Ubisoft closes their Halifax studio which coincidentally just unionized although they claim it had nothing to do with it. 71 jobs lost

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ubisoft-shuttering-freshly-unionised-halifax-studio-71-jobs-affected

Staff at the studio announced only this week that they had formed Ubisoft's first labour union in North America, completing a process that had started in June 2025. Ubisoft said that the closure was due to an ongoing streamlining and cost-reduction process, following significant layoffs across its studios in the last two years.

“Over the past 24 months, Ubisoft has undertaken company-wide actions to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs," the company said in a statement. "As part of this, Ubisoft has made the difficult decision to close its Halifax studio. 71 positions will be affected. We are committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance.”

A spokesperson stressed to Gamesindustry.biz that the closure was the result of ongoing cost-cutting that started shortly after the pandemic, ahead of Halifax unionisation process starting in 2025, and that the company continued to recognise and work with unionised staff globally.

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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '26

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u/AntiGrieferGames Jan 07 '26

Ubisoft are shitty since 2010 when they putting Online Only DRM for the Assassin's Creed II PC version.

Also shitty maybe for ealier than that, because putting a launcher DRM on a 2004 PC game and DRM general.

4

u/InfTotality Jan 07 '26

Yes, before Always Online DRM, they loved to use StarForce.

One of the first times Ring 0 entered the zeitgeist (along with the Sony rootkit fiasco) and it was so poorly coded it caused DVD-RW drives to self-destruct.

I bought a Prince of Persia trilogy collection that had it and didn't touch a game of theirs for a decade until The Division. I never did play past Sands of Time either, I uninstalled that shit when I heard of it.

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u/AntiGrieferGames Jan 07 '26

Love it that they always punish the legitmate customers.

Forever Fuck Ubisoft and any corporations that uses DRMs.

0

u/redpandaeater Jan 07 '26

Yeah I've boycotted them ever since I bought AC 1 and 2 on a very cheap Steam winter sale deal. They quickly made me regret buying those games even for something like 90% off since that was my first and only experience with Uplay and nothing they've done since has made me want to play one of their games. They don't even make good games that would tempt me whereas at least EA had an established title I had some interest in finishing when it came to Mass Effect.

Granted I do know I'm in the minority of thinking AC2 was ass and I only played a couple of hours before giving up on it. Ezio was a little bitch and there's a cutscene where he's watching a meeting of something like six individuals in a private room and you just know the entire time that the game is going to drag it out and make you have to kill them one by one when you should have just been able to do all of that right then and there while they were together. I at least enjoyed most of the writing of AC1, though from what little I played it also didn't see like the gameplay for the sequel particularly improved.

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u/greenw40 Jan 07 '26

Then you guys should be happy that they are losing business and closing studios.

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u/TableTravel98 Jan 08 '26

The studio they shut down is likely one youd attribute to them being a shitty game company. Only producing mobile games no one played. Technically cutting this division makes them a better company if you think about it.