Ubisoft is closing its specialist mobile studio in Halifax, Canada, and its last remaining mobile-first Assassin’s Creed game, Rebellion, will no longer receive any further updates or live ops.
Reports from gamesindustry.biz and VGC suggest that 71 staff at Ubisoft Halifax are set to lose their jobs. Assassin’s Creed Rebellion will no longer receive any further updates or live ops, according to the reports.
Ubisoft Halifax was also one of many studios working on Rainbow Six Mobile, which is slated for release next month. The Canadian studio announced it had unionised earlier this week.
A spokesperson told GI and VGC: “Over the past 24 months, Ubisoft has undertaken company-wide actions to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. As part of this, Ubisoft has made the difficult decision to close its Halifax studio.”
“71 positions will be affected. We are committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance.”
The union many Ubisoft Halifax staff signed up to recently, CWA Canada, later told Game Developer that it would be helping the affected staff ensure their rights are upheld as the redundancy process unfolds.
“Today’s news is devastating,” said CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth. “We will pursue every legal recourse to ensure that the rights of these workers are respected and not infringed in any way.”
Ubisoft Halifax was Ubisoft’s first Canadian studio to specialise in mobile games, having assumed control of running live ops and events in Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, taking over from the game’s original developer, Behaviour Interactive. It had recently celebrated its 10th year in business.
