Ubisoft has closed its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios, adding 380 more jobs at risk. Across six restructuring rounds in 2026, roughly 680 positions have been eliminated or placed in jeopardy.
Ubisoft shut down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios on June 10, 2026, marking the sixth round of layoffs in a calendar year that is only half over. Up to 380 positions are at risk from this latest wave alone, and the total number of jobs eliminated or threatened across 2026 now stands at approximately 680.
What Happened at Winnipeg and Belgrade?
Ubisoft Winnipeg opened in 2018 as a technology hub supporting the company’s proprietary Anvil and Snowdrop engines. The studio contributed to titles including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6, and Rainbow Six Siege before pivoting to Rainbow Six Mobile development. At the time of closure, around 65 employees remained on staff, with roughly 50 of them working directly on Rainbow Six Mobile.
Ubisoft Belgrade, operational since 2016, served as a co-development studio on projects such as The Crew 2, Rainbow Six, Riders Republic, and Skull & Bones. The Serbian studio employed approximately 100 people before the shutdown was announced.
Barcelona Loses 28 Percent of Its Workforce
Alongside the closures, Ubisoft Barcelona received confirmation that 51 staff members would be cut, representing about 28 percent of its total workforce. An internal memo from Vantage Studios co-CEOs Charlie Guillemot and Christophe Derennes stated the studio would “refocus resources and expertise on priorities.” Going forward, Barcelona will work exclusively on Rainbow Six Siege, abandoning its previous contributions to Assassin’s Creed, The Division, Ghost Recon, and Rabbids.
Rainbow Six Franchise Takes a Heavy Hit
The June 10 restructuring hit the Rainbow Six franchise particularly hard. Winnipeg’s closure removed the dedicated core team behind Rainbow Six Mobile, a free-to-play title that had launched globally on February 23, 2026, just under four months earlier. Meanwhile, Ubisoft Montréal moved 120 developers (roughly 12 percent of the Siege team) off the mainline game and reassigned 50 additional staff from Rainbow Six Mobile. In total, 170 people were pulled from a single franchise in a single day.
Ubisoft has not announced plans to shut down Rainbow Six Mobile. New content, Operation Gray Phantom, was released on June 4. However, the scale of developer displacement raises legitimate questions about the game’s long-term update cadence, especially for players who have already invested money in season passes and in-app purchases.
The Full 2026 Layoff Timeline
Ubisoft’s restructuring throughout 2026 has unfolded in rapid succession:
- January (Round 1): Ubisoft Halifax closed, 71 jobs lost. The studio had voted to unionise just two weeks earlier. Ubisoft maintained the closure was unrelated.
- January (Round 2): 55 positions cut across Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm. Stockholm was fully shuttered.
- February: 40 layoffs at Ubisoft Toronto, affecting the Splinter Cell remake team. Abu Dhabi lost 29 staff.
- March: Red Storm Entertainment, the studio that created the original Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games, laid off 105 people and ceased all game development, shifting to engine support and IT roles.
- June (Round 6): Winnipeg and Belgrade closed; Barcelona restructured. Up to 380 positions at risk.
Additionally, Ubisoft proposed a voluntary departure plan for up to 200 employees at its Paris headquarters under France’s Rupture Conventionnelle Collective (RCC) framework.
Financial Backdrop: Record Losses Drive the Cuts
Behind the layoffs is a financial crisis of historic proportions for the publisher. Ubisoft reported a record operating loss of approximately €1.3 billion for fiscal year 2025-26, on revenue that fell 21.8 percent year over year to €1.4 billion. When the company announced its sweeping restructuring in January, its stock plummeted 33 percent in a single session, hitting a 13-year low.
The company is targeting a reduction in fixed costs to €1.25 billion on a run-rate basis by March 2028, which would represent total savings of roughly €500 million since fiscal year 2022-23. Ubisoft has acknowledged that fiscal year 2026-27 will be another loss-making period, with a projected return to profitability pushed to 2027-28.
The “Creative Houses” Restructuring Explained
At the heart of Ubisoft’s transformation is a reorganisation into five specialised “Creative Houses,” each functioning as an independent business unit with full financial accountability. The model, announced on January 21, 2026, became operational in early April:
- Vantage Studios (CH1): Scaling Ubisoft’s largest franchises, including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six. Backed by Tencent’s €1.16 billion investment.
- CH2: Competitive and co-operative shooter experiences covering The Division, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell.
- CH3: Live-service titles such as For Honor, The Crew, Riders Republic, Brawlhalla, and Skull & Bones.
- CH4: Narrative-driven worlds including Anno, Might & Magic, Rayman, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil.
- CH5: Casual and family-friendly games like Just Dance and Idle Miner Tycoon.
Alongside the structural change, Ubisoft cancelled six games (most notably the long-delayed Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake), delayed seven titles to fiscal year 2027, and introduced a mandatory five-day return-to-office policy for all employees.
What This Means for Players
The ongoing restructuring directly affects live-service titles that depend on continuous content updates. Rainbow Six Siege, one of Ubisoft’s most enduring franchises, lost a significant portion of its Montréal development capacity. Rainbow Six Mobile lost its dedicated studio entirely. Players who have spent money on in-game items or season passes should be aware that there is no guarantee of indefinite service for free-to-play titles.
The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, first announced in 2020, was formally cancelled. Beyond Good & Evil 2, which has been in some form of development for nearly two decades, has not been officially cancelled but remains in deep uncertainty. The Splinter Cell remake is still in development at Ubisoft Toronto, despite the 40 layoffs there.
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The Bigger Picture Across the Games Industry
Ubisoft’s crisis is part of a broader contraction that has swept the games industry since 2022. Major layoffs have occurred at Microsoft Gaming, Electronic Arts, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Epic Games, Take-Two Interactive, Riot Games, Embracer Group, and others. The rapid hiring boom driven by the COVID-19 pandemic gave way to a painful correction as development costs rose, market conditions became more selective, and pandemic-era player engagement declined.
Ubisoft’s workforce has shrunk from over 20,000 in 2023 to approximately 16,600 by mid-2026. The company’s leadership has framed these cuts as necessary steps toward a leaner organisation capable of producing fewer but higher-quality titles. Whether that strategy succeeds will depend on whether the remaining teams can deliver the blockbuster releases Ubisoft desperately needs.
Questions Worth Knowing the Answers To
Is Rainbow Six Mobile shutting down?
Ubisoft has not announced any plans to discontinue Rainbow Six Mobile. The game released new content on June 4, 2026. However, the closure of Winnipeg (which employed around 50 of the game’s core developers) and the reassignment of 50 more Montréal staff raise serious questions about long-term content support.
How many Ubisoft employees have been laid off in 2026?
Approximately 680 jobs have been eliminated or placed at risk across six restructuring rounds as of June 2026. A further 170 Montréal developers were reassigned from Rainbow Six projects but have not been formally classified as layoffs.
Why is Ubisoft closing studios?
The company reported a record €1.3 billion operating loss for its fiscal year ending March 2026 and is executing a cost-reduction programme targeting €500 million in total fixed-cost savings by March 2028. Studio closures are a core part of that strategy.
What happened to the Prince of Persia remake?
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, first announced in 2020 and repeatedly delayed, was cancelled in January 2026 as part of a portfolio review. Ubisoft stated it did not meet the company’s revised quality standards.
Is Ubisoft being sold?
Ubisoft has not announced a sale of the company. Tencent completed a €1.16 billion investment in Vantage Studios (a Ubisoft subsidiary) in November 2025, acquiring a 26.32 percent economic interest. Ubisoft retains operational control. The company has, however, stated it is considering “potential asset divestitures.”
