Ubisoft continues layoffs of Barcelona developers despite Black Flag Resynced success
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has been a much-needed success after the mixed reception of Shadows, but Ubisoft is still laying off Barcelona developers despite the game selling more than 2 million copies in just 24 hours.
Ubisoft announced a multi-year restructuring plan after several underperforming releases, game cancellations, delays, and rising development costs. The company announced 380 layoffs in June as it seeks to improve profitability. The Barcelona layoffs are tied to the ongoing restructuring, but they have drawn criticism because the timing coincides with Black Flag Resynced’s massive commercial success after its release on July 9 on PlayStation, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.
Why Ubisoft is laying off 51 Barcelona employees
On top of the layoffs last month, Ubisoft is now reportedly making 51 employees in the Barcelona office redundant. This reduction in the workforce is an effort to mitigate the costs of cancellations, delays, and studio changes. The restructuring doesn’t affect only Barcelona, as Winnipeg and Belgrade offices have also faced similar cost-cutting. Manuel Cota, an animator from the team in Barcelona, took to X to reveal that he was one of the employees affected despite his team creating the underwater levels for the Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced game.
Image credit: X
Barcelona employees had raised concerns about not being assigned a new project, which suggests the layoffs weren’t dependent on the new release’s performance.
Ubisoft Barcelona goes on strike over planned layoffs
A strike was organized by the Spanish union Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) on June 30, which will last until July 17. Barcelona employees are demanding that Ubisoft give them job protections. Some of the demands include all 51 affected employees keeping their jobs, no layoffs for at least five years, honoring pending promotions, a salary improvement plan, and a social benefits package.
Image credit: X
Ubisoft has reacted to the strike by saying it respects employees’ right to express their views, but maintained that the Barcelona layoffs are linked to its broader restructuring plans. Despite the layoffs, the Spanish office is expected to remain open, unlike Winnipeg and Belgrade. Some reports indicate that Ubisoft Barcelona will now focus on Rainbow Six rather than co-development work.
A wider industry trend
It is not just a Ubisoft story, as other game developers have also made redundancies in recent years. Earlier this year, Rockstar Games, the creators of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto VI, saw employees try to secure unionization ahead of the game’s release in November.
Why fans are calling Black Flag Resynced a Game of the Year contender
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced peaked at roughly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam within 24 hours, and has received generally positive reviews, with a Metascore of 84. Several critics have praised the game as expanding on the original Black Flag, improving on what made it great. This is why some fans argue that Black Flag Resynced has the potential to be a GOTY contender.
Black Flag is one of the more popular Assassin’s Creed games, and Resynced took what the fans loved and revamped it. The game has improved visuals, mechanics, and new content. These elements are likely why the game received such a warm reception from fans. While fans may be pushing for the game to enter GOTY conversation, commercial success isn’t the only variable.
The elements supporting the game entering GOTY are its strong sales, positive reviews, and fans’ general goodwill. However, remakes typically have to compete with new IPs, which makes their path more challenging. A strong fanbase doesn’t always mean the game can be nominated. Despite this, Black Flag Resynced is a game to look out for on prediction markets, with traders able to predict whether the game will achieve the feat.
Feature image credit: Ubisoft
Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.
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