Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has tried to elucidate the corporate’s current push for an extra €200 million ($235 million) in price reductions, which has led to mass layoffs and a spate of sport cancellations not too long ago.
Speaking to Variety, Guillemot mentioned the online game trade total “grew in a short time” popping out of COVID, with individuals anticipating that the momentum for gaming generated through the pandemic can be sustained. Nonetheless, this didn’t “totally materialize,” Guillemot mentioned.
For Ubisoft particularly, Guillemot mentioned this anticipation for future returns “led to too many tasks and elevated complexity,” and now Ubisoft is making main cuts. The newest of the layoffs hit Ubisoft Toronto, however the workforce’s Splinter Cell remake stays in improvement.
“Our precedence as we speak is to construct a extra targeted, agile firm, with stronger groups that strike the proper steadiness between senior experience and younger expertise and who’re effectively positioned to ship the very best high quality video games,” he mentioned.
The chief went on to say that Ubisoft is making an attempt to navigate the cost-reductions “as thoughtfully and responsibly as doable.”
Past layoffs, Ubisoft is “lowering sure bills, adjusting or stopping tasks the place obligatory, bettering manufacturing processes, and making simpler use of our instruments,” Guillemot mentioned.
The upheaval at Ubisoft has prompted builders to go on strike, with a labor union calling for Guillemot to resign.
In January, Ubisoft introduced that it had canceled six video games and delayed seven, whereas closing two Ubisoft studios and conducting rounds of layoffs throughout the corporate. This was a part of a wider strategic reset and reorganization of the corporate round 5 totally different “inventive homes.” What’s extra, Ubisoft made a billion-dollar take care of Tencent to place itself for the long run.
The Prince of Persia remake was amongst these video games that acquired canceled, and one of many delayed video games is rumored to be the closely leaked Murderer’s Creed IV: Black Flag remake.
In the identical interview, Guillemot mentioned two new Far Cry video games are coming, together with extra Murderer’s Creed video games. Moreover, he mentioned Ubisoft is growing a number of new IPs.