Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Developer Ubisoft Barcelona Goes On Strike To Protest Layoffs

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced launched last week, on July 9, and one of the various Ubisoft studios behind its development is facing impending layoffs, despite the remake’s early success. Ubisoft Barcelona, which is responsible for the game’s underwater exploration and tech, is set to lose 51 employees in the coming weeks as part of the layoffs. In response, the studio, represented by the Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego union (CSVI), has begun a strike today that will last through Thursday, July 16, as reported by Video Games Chronicle.

During this strike, the CSVI union will be attempting to negotiate with Ubisoft over the proposed 51 layoffs. The strikers’ demands include the cancellation of the proposed layoffs, a return to the studio’s previous 60 percent remote working policy, the granting of previously promised promotions and raises, and stronger job security. 

Ubisoft Barcelona workers, supported by the CSVI union, previously went on strike in February of last year in response to more than 500 layoffs at Ubisoft studios worldwide, as well as the closure of three development studios. 

“Despite the game’s commercial success, 51 Ubisoft Barcelona workers will lose their jobs in the coming weeks,” a CSVI union statement on the strike reads. “After an intense production, the company claims a ‘strategic shift’ to justify these layoffs. After years of dedication to our team, the company has turned its back on us. We will never see the fruits of our labour, and the reward for our hard work will be the loss of our jobs.” 

Notably, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of the original Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, sold 2 million copies in just one day after its launch, according to Ubisoft. It also ranked Top 1 on Twitch on July 9 – its launch day – and reached a peak of 99,451 concurrent players on Steam within 24 hours of launch, “making it the highest concurrent player count ever recorded for an Assassin’s Creed title on the platform,” Ubisoft writes in a celebratory statement released yesterday on July 13. 

Many Ubisoft developers and other members of the game development industry have spoken out about these layoffs, particularly as they come after the successful launch of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced; it gives further credence to the idea that layoffs in game development are inevitable – if your game struggles, layoffs, and if it succeeds, like in this remake’s case, you’re still not safe from layoffs.  

[Source: Video Games Chronicle] 

The hearts of the Game Informer staff are with everyone who will be affected by these layoffs.