Another day, another report of jobs lost in the video game industry. Ubisoft says it has conducted a “targeted realignment” at its Toronto studio, the result of which is 33 jobs made redundant. The news came from PC Gamer on Saturday, to whom Ubisoft provided a statement.
“Ubisoft Toronto has decided to conduct a targeted realignment to ensure it can deliver on its ambitious roadmap,” reads the statement provided to PC Gamer. “Unfortunately, this will impact the roles of 33 team members who will be leaving Ubisoft. We are committed to providing comprehensive support to them, including severance and career assistance, to help through this transition.
” The job losses come as a bit of a surprise. Ubisoft Toronto was recently drafted to contribute to the publisher’s long-in-development Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake. The troubled remake began at Indian studios Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Pume before development duties shifted to Ubi Montreal in 2022.
Toronto, the fourth major internal studio to work on the game, was brought in to assist. This continues a trend, not just within Ubi but in the wider industry, of large projects getting away from their assigned teams and requiring the help of other large studios to get them out the door. February’s Skull and Bones is maybe the most well-known Ubisoft example, a game that was touched by almost every studio in the business.
Xbox has run into similar problems over the last few years, bringing in Crystal Dynamics t.