Following the plenty of lay-offs that have taken place in the gaming industry this year, Ubisoft is now joining the ranks of the companies that have let some of its employees go en masse. According to IGN, the company has confirmed in a statement that its studio, Red Storm Entertainment, has been subject to lay-offs affecting 19 employees.
In its statement, Ubisoft refers to the lay-offs has having been done as part of its global cost-saving efforts and targeted restructuring. The company has also confirmed that its employees that were affected by the lay-offs are still being supported with “comprehensive severance packages, extended health-care benefits, and career transition assistance”.
“Today, Ubisoft made the decision to eliminate 19 roles at Red Storm Entertainment,” said the company in its statement. “This step is part of our ongoing, targeted restructuring and global cost-saving efforts, and reflects the needs on the studio’s projects. While this was not an easy decision, it was a necessary one given our operational priorities. We remain committed to supporting those affected with comprehensive severance packages, extended health-care benefits, and career transition assistance. We deeply appreciate their hard work and the impact they’ve had on Ubisoft.”
Ubisoft has also confirmed that Red Storm Entertainment is the only one of its studios that is being affected by lay-offs for the time being. However, it did not respond to questions about the current state of the studio and how many employees were still working there.
For context, Red Storm Entertainment – these days more commonly referred to as Ubisoft Red Storm – has worked on a number of games since its inception. The studio was founded by Tom Clancy back in 1996. While it was originally envisioned as a studio that would make games based on his series of spy fiction novels, resulting in various games across the Rainbow Six series, it was eventually acquired by Ubisoft in 2000.
Over the last decade, Red Storm Entertainment has largely been relegated to being a support studio that helped out with the development of VR off-shoots, including Star Trek: Bridge Crew and cancelled projects like an untitled Splinter Cell VR game. The studio was also working on The Division Heartland, which ended up getting cancelled last year.
Just last month, Ubisoft confirmed that it would not be hosting its own game showcase – often known as Ubisoft Forward – this year. The showcase, typically part of June’s slate of events like Future Games Show and Summer Game Fest, was cancelled for the year with a statement from Ubisoft. In the statement, the company indicated that it just didn’t have much to share this time around.
“We are always eager to connect with our players and showcase our game,” said a spokesperson from Ubisoft. “We are continuing to explore opportunities to share updates, and we look forward to providing more information at a later date.”
Ubisoft currently has quite a few titles under development, including a remake of the classic Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, as well as the next outing in its city builder franchise, Anno 117: Pax Romana.
