Staff at Ubisoft Barcelona, one of the teams that worked on the recently-launched Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, have kicked off a three-day strike in protest against 51 planned layoffs at the studio.
Organised by the Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego (CSVI) union, the strike comes after it was revealed that Ubisoft were planning to lay off 51 staff, despite a successful launch for the Black Flag Remake — it was revealed only days after launch that the game sold two million units worldwide. However, the Barcelona studio was reported to be undergoing a restructuring back in June, with Ubisoft also planning on shuttering its Winnipeg and Belgrade teams.
The Barcelona team “did all the underwater levels” in the swashbuckling adventurer, according to Manel Cota, a tech and gameplay animator at the studio. “And that same team is being fired right now because Ubisoft thinks that’s what we deserve.”
Ubisoft Barcelona employees are demanding the following as part of its strike:
- The proposed 51 layoffs are cancelled
- Stronger job security guarantees in order to to prevent mass layoffs in the future
- Bringing back the remote working policy, which allowed up to 60% remote working
- Promotions and salary increases that were previously promised
Speaking in a statement on the strike, the CSVI commented:
Despite the game’s commercial success, 51 Ubisoft Barcelona workers will lose their jobs in the coming week. 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.
Ubisoft announced a major overhaul back in January that saw the publishing giant cancel six games including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, as well as delaying a further seven projects — one of which was Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced.
[Source – CGT Catalunya on X via VGC]