Ubisoft Shuts Down Recently Unionized Halifax Studio

Ubisoft is shutting down Ubisoft Halifax, a studio that previously worked on Rocksmith and mobile titles in the Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six franchises. 71 staff members have been affected.

This news comes just two days after Ubisoft Halifax unionized, with 61 employees joining the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada. The studio had announced plans to unionize in June 2025 and became Ubisoft’s first labor union in North America.

Despite the timing, Ubisoft told Video Games Chronicle in a statement that the decision to close Ubisoft Halifax was made “well before” the studio unionized and is part of a company-wide effort to “streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.” Ubisoft also states that it “fully respects” employees’ right to unionize and promises to support the impacted employees with severance packages and career assistance.

Ubisoft Halifax was formerly known as Longtail Studios. Founded in 2010, it worked on Rocksmith 2014 before being acquired by Ubisoft in 2015. The studio went on to help develop the mobile titles Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, released in 2018, and Rainbow Six Mobile, which launches on February 23. 

This news follows a challenging couple of years for the publisher, which has made significant cuts at studios such as Massive Entertainment (The Division, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora) and RedLynx (Trials) as part of its ongoing restructuring. Last March, it formed a new subsidiary partially backed by Tencent called Vantage Studios to manage its biggest franchises: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.