51 employees from Ubisoft Barcelona, one of the studios that worked on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, are being made redundant just days after the game launched to positive reviews. The layoffs were confirmed via a LinkedIn post by Isabel Codina Garcia, a QA lead at the studio, who described it as a 'bittersweet day' after seven years at the company. The redundancies are set to take effect by the end of July 2026.
Timing of Layoffs Raises Questions
According to Garcia, the team was informed of the redundancies two weeks before the launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a game they had been working on for the past two and a half years. In her LinkedIn post, she wrote: 'Two weeks before launch, the whole AC team at Ubisoft Barcelona was informed of a collective redundancy plan (ERE). Vantage Studios has stated there will not be further mandates for the Barcelona studio, despite the team proposing new AC projects.'
Garcia signed off by saying: 'After 7 years at Ubisoft Barcelona, this is not how I imagined it would end. But I am genuinely grateful for the people I have met and everything I have learned along the way.'
Employee Concerns and Strike Action
According to a report from Insider Gaming, anonymous Ubisoft employees claimed they had been worried about this situation for about a year. Teams at Ubisoft are usually assigned a new project before completing their current one, but the Barcelona studio was not assigned anything new right up to the finish line of Black Flag Resynced. However, Gamesindustry.biz reports that remaining staff at Ubisoft Barcelona will be moved to work on Rainbow Six Siege.
Some members of the Ubisoft Barcelona team are participating in strike action, which began on June 30 in protest of the restructure. Strikes are held every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon and are expected to run until July 16.
Successful Launch Amidst Restructuring
Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced launched globally on July 9, marking one of the most successful Ubisoft launches in recent years. The game currently holds an 84 Metacritic score with numerous positive reviews from critics.
Ubisoft announced a major restructuring in January 2026, organizing its IPs into five creative houses. Assassin's Creed falls under Vantage Studios, a subsidiary partially backed by Tencent, which also oversees the Far Cry and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six series. Earlier this year, Ubisoft closed studios in Belgrade, Winnipeg, Stockholm, and Halifax.
