Ubisoft shares tanked 33% on Thursday morning right after the company revealed it was shutting down multiple studios, canceling six games, and doing a full company overhaul.
The crash wasn’t all that sudden though. Ubisoft stock has been going down for years, ever since the Covid boom ended. Game delays piled up, and so did losses.
On Wednesday night, the company said it expects to lose €1 billion in the financial year ending 2026. That’s on top of a €650 million hit from the restructuring alone. They even admitted they might sell parts of the business.
Studios shut down, jobs cut, and workers pushed back into offices
Two studios (Halifax in Canada and Stockholm in Sweden) are being shut down completely. Others in Abu Dhabi, Helsinki, and Malmö are getting “restructured.” This is all part of what Ubisoft called its “third and final” cost-cutting phase. That plan is supposed to find another €200 million in savings over two years.
The company has already cut around 3,000 jobs worldwide and closed several other offices. Now it says it wants to slash fixed costs from €1.75 billion in 2023 to €1.25 billion by 2028. That’s €500 million off the books.
They’re also ending remote work. Management wants five office days a week to be standard again. That’s already causing friction in France, where workers have protested before.
Vincent Cambedouzou, from the STJV game workers’ union, called the change “completely gratuitous” and said people were “terrified as studios are closing one after another.” He said the whole plan was a “disaster” and a “conflict initiated by management.”
Game development reorganized into five new creative houses
This isn’t just about cuts. Ubisoft is also changing how its games are made. The company is rolling out an entirely new structure with five “creative houses.” Each one is responsible for a specific genre. They’ll have their own leadership, budgets, and decision-making powers.
The first unit, Vantage Studios, launched back in October, and it handles Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry. The goal is to turn each franchise into a billion-euro-a-year business. Tencent grabbed a 26% stake in Vantage for €1.16 billion, valuing the house at €3.8 billion.
The other four houses are still unnamed but already mapped out. One will focus on shooters like The Division and Ghost Recon. Another gets multiplayer titles like The Crew and For Honor. A third is for fantasy games such as Prince of Persia and Might and Magic. The last one will take care of family games like Just Dance.
Around half of all Ubisoft studios worldwide will be split between these houses. The other half will form a global network to help on specific projects. A separate group will handle tech, marketing, production, and distribution.
Paris HQ keeps control of strategy and resources.
Net bookings are also taking a hit. The company now expects just €1.5 billion for the financial year ending 2026. That’s down €330 million from earlier forecasts.
Yves Guillemot, the company’s founder and CEO, said this was a “radical move” but necessary. “Today’s market environment requires that the Group step-changes how it is organized and operates,” he said.
Yves also warned the plan would drag down earnings in both 2026 and 2027.
Still, Ubisoft hopes the reset will lead to what Guillemot called “sustainable growth and robust cash generation.” But for now, the numbers are rough.
