Ubisoft slashes 70 jobs in Singapore; experts point to financials woes, not AI

French game developer Ubisoft has laid off 70 employees at its Singapore studio to better align its workforce with upcoming production needs. This follows an organizational reset in January aimed at focusing on formats with recurring revenue from existing popular games. The layoffs occurred on October 14, 2024, and are attributed to poor financial performance and recent title failures rather than redundancies due to artificial intelligence.

Ubisoft's Singapore studio, established in 2008, was part of the country's strategy to build a world-class digital media and game animation hub. The studio, which had 450 employees in 2023, remains an important part of Ubisoft's global production organization. Affected employees, including designers, artists, production crew, and programmers, will receive financial and career assistance from Ubisoft.

The company has received subsidies from the Economic Development Board since 2008, and in 2016, received funding from the Singapore government to develop the game Skull and Bones. The layoffs are part of a broader trend of major gaming studios making similar moves due to poor financial performance and unsuccessful recent titles.