Ubisoft shuts Winnipeg and Belgrade studios, expects up to 380 layoffs

Ubisoft is shutting down two more studios, and the impact is not subtle: the closures in Winnipeg and Belgrade are expected to affect up to 380 positions. IGN reports that the Winnipeg and Belgrade development offices are the latest locations to be marked for closure as the company continues cost-cutting measures.

This is the continuation of a pattern, not a one-off. According to IGN, job losses are also expected due to organizational changes within Ubisoft's global publishing division, and within Ubisoft's studio based in Barcelona, Spain. That Barcelona studio will now focus solely on the Rainbow Six franchise, after previously supporting other projects including the Rabbids series and Star Trek: Bridge Crew. Put simply, Ubisoft is consolidating around fewer franchises, which usually means fewer teams, fewer experiments, and less redundancy across functions.

For decision-makers, this matters because Ubisoft is not just trimming expenses. It is reshaping the production pipeline. When a studio moves from “we help multiple projects” to “we do one franchise,” it changes everything downstream. Staffing plans tighten. Management layers compress. Tools, workflows, and even hiring profiles get optimized for one product line. That can improve execution speed for a live franchise, but it also reduces creative surface area, which is one reason game publishers that get overly concentrated can stumble when player demand shifts.

Zoom out and you can see why the market watches layoffs like an earnings call. Ubisoft’s broader context is bleak. IGN says the company’s profits have fallen and its blockbuster game output has slowed, contributing to repeated job losses over recent years. Back in 2023, Ubisoft employed more than 20,000 staff. As of this year, and before today’s latest changes, the figure was down to 16,590. This latest round is another step in shrinking the global headcount after the company has already closed multiple studios and cut hundreds of roles.

The cuts have been coming in multiple waves, and the new closures in Winnipeg and Belgrade add to a 2026 start that IGN characterizes as brutal. In January, Ubisoft canceled six games, including its Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake, and closed two studios completely: Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Halifax. In the same month, Ubisoft made layoffs at its office in Abu Dhabi, at Trials studio RedLynx, and at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora outfit Massive Entertainment.

Just a week later, Ubisoft announced plans to ditch 200 jobs at its Paris headquarters, leading to protests within France’s capital. Then in February, Ubisoft had to reassure fans that its long-awaited Splinter Cell remake remained in development, after 40 jobs were eliminated at its studio Ubisoft Toronto. Taken together, these moves show a company under pressure to reduce fixed costs quickly while still protecting enough pipeline to avoid the “everything is canceled” headline cycle.

One additional signal embedded in IGN’s reporting is what Ubisoft’s “global publishing division” re-org implies. Publishing organizations often sit between business strategy and studio execution, and when they undergo organizational changes, it can ripple across support functions like production, marketing coordination, portfolio planning, and project management. IGN specifically links further job losses to organizational changes within that global publishing division, suggesting Ubisoft is cutting not only at the studio level, but also in the layers that coordinate the portfolio.

And then there’s the Barcelona shift, which is a concrete example of consolidation. Moving that studio to focus solely on Rainbow Six, after supporting Rabbids and Star Trek: Bridge Crew, reduces multi-project obligations. In exchange, it likely concentrates expertise and resources on one franchise that Ubisoft can justify as a dependable platform. For other publishers and investors, the lesson is straightforward: when blockbuster output slows, publishers increasingly bet on fewer, steadier franchises and use studio shutdowns and role reductions as the mechanism to fund that focus.

The strategic stakes for peers are clear. Ubisoft’s downsizing continues to shrink its workforce, and the company is already well into a multi-month sequence of closures and layoffs. The more Ubisoft concentrates around a limited set of franchises, the more it will need those franchises to deliver consistently. Otherwise, the next “cost cutting” round could land even harder, because there will be less organizational flexibility left to pivot when performance misses.