Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot says that the company anticipated "sustained demand that didn’t fully materialize" post-Covid, which motivated the launch of "too many projects and increased complexity." This news comes less than 24 hours after 40 people were laid off at Ubisoft Toronto.
In an interview with Variety, where Guillemot is asked if Ubisoft would be "undergoing layoffs, beyond the 200 proposed reductions with the voluntary departure plan," he begins his response with, "as we announced, the €200 million in additional cost reductions will include selective restructuring across the company."
The 200 proposed reductions refer to a "voluntary mutual termination," which was offered to workers at Ubisoft Paris last month. This is where staff are asked to willingly leave their jobs. "That said, our primary focus for aligning the organization with our long-term goals remains disciplined workforce management," Guillemot continues. "Meaning prioritizing voluntary departures while carefully controlling recruitment for replacements and new roles."
As for Ubisoft's plans for after profits have stabilized post-layoffs, he says, "we are also taking a range of measures to optimize the business: reducing certain expenses, adjusting or stopping projects where necessary, improving production processes, and making more effective use of our tools." So, not only more layoffs, but potentially more canceled games as well.
Getting down to why the company has laid off so many staff despite the release of popular games like Assassin's Creed Shadows, Guillemot blames the company's misplaced belief that the gaming boom that flourished during Covid, when everyone was stuck inside, would continue in a post-Covid world.
"Following the post-Covid period, the industry grew very quickly, anticipating sustained demand that didn’t fully materialize," he says. "On our part, this led to too many projects and increased complexity. Our priority today is to build a more focused, agile company, with stronger teams that strike the right balance between senior expertise and young talent and who are well positioned to deliver the highest quality games."
