Just last week, Ubisoft reported positive improvements in net bookings for 2025. However, the start of 2026 has been anything but smooth sailing for the French video game publisher. Over 1,200 of its employees in France and Italy participated in a three-day strike from February 10–12, due to frustrations with studio closures and layoffs. It unfortunately does not stop there, as the company just laid off 40 employees at Ubisoft Toronto, according to Canadian publication MobileSyrup.
Ubisoft stated the following to MobileSyrup regarding the dismissals:
“This decision was not taken lightly and does not in any way reflect the talent, dedication, or contributions of the individuals affected. Our priority now is to support them through this transition with comprehensive severance packages and robust career placement assistance.”
The Show Goes On
Ubisoft Toronto houses the people working on the upcoming Splinter Cell Remake, for which development plans were announced back in 2021. The company promised a game built entirely from scratch, with better visuals, atmosphere, and gameplay. They also promised that the gameplay will be linear, not open-world like Ubisoft’s more recent IPs.
Ever since then, it has been a constant flurry of confusing back-and-forth reports. We heard reports that the game was getting a new story, then some early concept, and then reports that the game had been delayed “indefinitely.”
Ubisoft has insisted several times since 2021 that the game is coming, and they are doing so once again now. Keep in mind, we have yet to see any form of gameplay footage, and it’s been five years. It’s strange, isn’t it? On one side, we get consistent annual releases from Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed, and sports games like EA FC without issue. But the moment there is gritty work to be done for new IPs or meaningful remakes, we have these delays.
That’s not a shot at the developers or the individuals working on these games, far from it. In fact, it just highlights how frequently resources are mismanaged and ignored until it’s crunch time. We don’t know how accurate the reports are from employees about how they are treated by publishers like Ubisoft, but when 1,200 of your employees decide on a three-day strike across different countries, something is definitely not right.
