Ubisoft Germany Layoffs to Hit Close to 100 Jobs

Ubisoft Germany layoffs are set to hit close to 100 employees across three studios, according to a new report, marking another round of cuts at the French publisher just months after hundreds of jobs were eliminated worldwide. The reductions will reportedly touch Ubisoft’s studios in Mainz, Berlin and Dusseldorf, with Dusseldorf said to be taking the heaviest share of the cuts.

The news comes from The Game File, which cited a representative at Ubisoft Germany confirming the plan. Before any formal announcement, the publisher had already raised the prospect with Germany’s Works Council, a labour body representing employees, proposing a voluntary departure scheme as a first step. That kind of consultation is standard under German labour law before larger job cuts proceed, which suggests the final numbers and structure could still shift before anything is locked in.

Which Ubisoft Germany studios are affected

Mainz appears to be the highest-profile studio caught up in this round. The team has worked on Anno 1800, the upcoming Anno 117: Pax Romana, Rainbow Six Siege, and the long-delayed Beyond Good and Evil 2, giving it a hand in some of Ubisoft’s most commercially important franchises. Losing staff there, even through voluntary departures, raises questions about development timelines on projects already stretched thin.

Berlin and Dusseldorf round out the list of studios in the firing line, with Dusseldorf reportedly bearing the brunt of the reductions. Ubisoft has not detailed exactly how many roles each site will lose, and the company has leaned on a voluntary departure framework rather than confirming blanket redundancies, which leaves some uncertainty about the final headcount until the process plays out with the Works Council.

A pattern stretching across Ubisoft’s global studios

This isn’t an isolated event. It follows a prior wave of layoffs that saw hundreds of staff lose their jobs across multiple Ubisoft studios in both North America and Europe. Taken together, the two rounds point to a company making sustained cuts to its workforce rather than a single, contained correction.

Ubisoft’s Benedikt Grindel addressed the German cuts in an internal email, framing them as a way to “best position our German studios for the future…with a clearer focus on their role, capabilities, and organizational setup needed for the work ahead.” That language, common in corporate restructuring announcements, points to a deliberate narrowing of what each studio is responsible for, rather than cuts driven purely by a single underperforming project.

Ubisoft isn’t alone in this. Other French studios like Don’t Nod have cut jobs amid financial strain, and the broader games industry has seen a wave of closures and layoffs over the past two years, from major publishers to smaller independent teams. The pattern suggests structural pressure across the sector, not just a Ubisoft-specific problem.

Why Ubisoft is restructuring now

Ubisoft has spent much of the past year dealing with underwhelming sales on several big releases, a sliding share price, and pressure from major shareholders Tencent and the Guillemot family, who took a significant stake in a newly formed subsidiary housing some of its biggest franchises. Cutting costs in Germany fits a broader pattern of the publisher trying to streamline its operations while it reorganises around fewer, bigger bets.

The company is also trialling a move away from its own launcher on Steam and is facing scrutiny over its in-game currency practices in the EU, both signs of a publisher under pressure on multiple fronts at once. None of those issues directly caused the German layoffs, but they paint a picture of a company making changes across the board as it tries to steady its finances.

What the cuts mean for the games industry

For staff at Mainz, Berlin and Dusseldorf, the immediate concern is simple: job security during a period when the wider industry has shed tens of thousands of roles since 2023. Germany’s labour protections mean the process will likely involve negotiation rather than sudden terminations, but that’s cold comfort for anyone facing an uncertain few months while the Works Council and Ubisoft hash out the details.

More broadly, the cuts reinforce how unevenly the games industry has recovered from its post-pandemic contraction. Even a publisher with franchises as established as Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six and Anno is still trimming headcount, a reminder that scale alone doesn’t shield a studio from cost pressures. Comparable moves elsewhere, including Microsoft’s closure of Ninja Theory after a buyer search failed, show the same dynamic playing out at other major publishers.

Frequently asked questions

How many jobs will Ubisoft cut in Germany?

The reported figure is close to 100 positions across Ubisoft’s Mainz, Berlin and Dusseldorf studios, though exact numbers per site haven’t been officially confirmed.

Which Ubisoft games are made at the affected studios?

Mainz has worked on Anno 1800, the upcoming Anno 117: Pax Romana, Rainbow Six Siege and Beyond Good and Evil 2, making it the most prominent studio named in the report.

Is this related to Ubisoft’s earlier layoffs?

It follows a separate, larger round of layoffs that hit hundreds of staff across multiple Ubisoft studios in the US and Europe, suggesting an ongoing cost-cutting push rather than a one-off event.

Has Ubisoft officially confirmed the German job cuts?

The company reportedly discussed a voluntary departure plan with Germany’s Works Council, but hasn’t issued a public, detailed statement confirming final numbers, which may still change through that consultation process.