Ubisoft carried out a massive purge on the very day Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced was released—on July 9, the publisher laid off 51 employees from the Barcelona branch responsible for the game’s development. While gamers were launching the long-awaited remake on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, the title’s creators were met with a modest catered office reception instead of a celebratory party. Amidst the mass layoffs, the team announced a strike. The situation appears incredibly cynical, given that the game had a strong launch on digital storefronts like Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft Connect—yet this success did not save the team from being disbanded.
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Why the commercial success of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced didn’t save the developers
Sales and pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced were excellent. In terms of Steam pre-orders, the new remake outperformed the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows by a factor of 5.8 and easily surpassed the combined lifetime figures of the troubled Skull and Bones. However, Ubisoft’s bosses were unmoved; 51 people were laid off, representing approximately 28% of the Barcelona studio’s total workforce. By all accounts, the decision to disband the team had been brewing for some time. Management had announced the impending cuts as early as June 10, as the team had been without a new major project lined up for the period following the summer of 2025. Typically, the publisher assigns specialists to new titles a year before the current project concludes, but no new tasks were found for the Barcelona team. These events clearly illustrate a systemic crisis within the French giant: harsh management, the exclusion of employees from decision-making, and steadily deteriorating working conditions.
Strikes at Ubisoft and the state of the gaming industry as of July 2026
The developers’ patience finally ran out. Backed by the Gaming Industry Workers’ Union coordinating committee, Spanish developers have launched a series of strikes taking place on Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 30 to July 16. A total of six protest actions are scheduled over the three-week period.
The team has issued a firm ultimatum:
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Immediate reinstatement of all 51 laid-off specialists;
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A moratorium on any mass layoffs for a minimum of five years;
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Implementation of previously promised cost-of-living adjustments and raises that management had frozen;
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An official right to remote work (working from home for at least 60% of work hours);
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A complete overhaul of employee benefits and the salary structure.
Financial losses are weighing heavily on the corporation: for the 2025–2026 fiscal year, Ubisoft posted an astronomical operating loss of €13 billion, while net revenue plummeted by 21.8%. As part of cost-cutting measures, the company has already closed divisions in Winnipeg and Belgrade, eliminating approximately 680 jobs in 2026. Around 380 additional positions are at risk of elimination.
This is, incidentally, a tragedy affecting the entire market. As of June 2026, the global gaming industry had lost another 3,700 specialists. Epic Games laid off about 1,000 people, while Bungie cut approximately 400 staff members. The statistics are alarming: one in four developers worldwide has lost their job over the past two years, and nearly half of them have yet to find new employment. While the remake of the cult pirate saga was warmly received by critics—recalling the success of the 2013 original—for the creators of the Resynced version, this triumph turned into a disaster. The protests are set to continue until July 16, yet Ubisoft management has so far ignored all attempts at dialogue.
