Ubisoft to reduce Paris workforce by nearly a fifth, eyes 200 job cuts

French video game publisher Ubisoft is preparing to cut up to 200 jobs at its Paris headquarters, as the company moves to stabilise its business after a year marked by delays, cancellations and financial strain.

The company has entered formal discussions with employee representatives over a voluntary redundancy scheme under French labour law, known as a rupture conventionnelle collective.

The process applies only to staff on French contracts and remains subject to union agreement and regulatory approval, Ubisoft said.

Ubisoft employs about 1,100 people at its Paris headquarters and roughly 17,000 globally. If approved, the plan would result in the departure of close to one-fifth of its Paris-based workforce.

The proposed cuts follow what Ubisoft has described as a “major reset” of its operations. Last week, the company announced it would reorganise around five autonomous “creative houses”, each focused on a specific genre or group of franchises, in an effort to streamline decision-making and curb rising costs.

Support studios will be shared across the group, while the Paris headquarters will be repositioned around strategy, governance and capital allocation. The overhaul is intended to simplify Ubisoft’s sprawling development structure, which has come under pressure as production timelines lengthened and budgets ballooned.

As part of the wider restructuring, Ubisoft has cancelled six projects, delayed seven others and shut down two studios, Reuters reported. The publisher is aiming to reduce fixed costs by a further €200 million over the next two years.

The measures come after a bruising period for the company. Ubisoft has struggled with the performance and timing of several high-profile releases, including Star Wars Outlaws, amid intensifying competition in the global games market. Last year, it also breached a loan covenant, forcing it to delay the publication of its half-year results, according to media reports.

The company now expects to report a loss before interest and tax of around €1 billion, driven largely by a one-off impairment charge of approximately €650 million linked to the restructuring.

Ubisoft’s shares slid following the announcement of the overhaul and revised guidance, erasing more than a third of its market value in a matter of days.

With talks with unions under way, the scale and timing of the job cuts remain uncertain. But the move underlines the depth of the challenges facing one of Europe’s largest game publishers as it attempts to reset its business for a more disciplined and unpredictable market.