It's January 13 and Ubisoft just announced its second round of layoffs for 2026, at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm
A "voluntary career transition program" at Ubisoft's Massive studio announced in October 2025 apparently wasn't enough to get the job done, and so now Ubisoft is going back to the old-fashioned way of doing things by simply laying people off.
"Earlier today, we informed all employees in our Swedish studios (Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm) about a proposed organizational restructure that may affect approximately 55 roles across Malmö and Stockholm," Ubisoft told IGN.
"This restructure follows the completion of the Voluntary Leave Program launched during the fall of 2025, a finalized long-term roadmap, and a completed staffing and appointment process, which together have provided clearer visibility into the structure and capacity required to support the two studios’ work and sustainably over time."
Massive Entertainment, based in Malmö, Sweden, is the developer of The Division games as well as Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, while Ubisoft Stockholm is currently working on an unannounced new game. Ubisoft said the "long-term direction" for both studios will not be impacted by the layoffs.
This is actually the second round of layoffs at Ubisoft this year, which is a wild thing to say on January 13: The cuts come just a week after the closure of Ubisoft Halifax, a decision that occurred just two weeks after the studio voted in favor of forming a union. Ubisoft said the unionization vote was not a factor in the decision to close the studio, but was merely the result of ongoing "company-wide actions to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs."
Ubisoft has unquestionably had a rough go of it in recent years, and while Assassin's Creed Shadows was a success, putting out one hit game is a long way from demonstrating the consistency and reliability needed to keep consumers and shareholders happy. Bigger structural changes are coming on that front: Ubisoft announced a partnership with Tencent in 2025 to launch a new company called Vanguard Studios that will take over development of its Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six games.