Ubisoft has had a rough year so far, with several reports of canceled game projects and even another delay to the Skull and Bones video game. But while the studio has continued to press on, a new report suggests that some offices will be closing down. This is just a rumor right now, as we don’t have anything official from Ubisoft on the matter. But if this report proves to be true, it could mean several offices based within Europe will soon see their doors close for good.
The report comes from Resetera, where user Creamium had noted that an email went out from Ubisoft. According to the letter that was sent out to employees, the company noted that there is a constantly evolving market right now, and it’s their job to keep up. With more focus on F2P, mobile titles, and seasonal games, there is a clear shift happening in Ubisoft’s eyes. That ultimately means that physical sales will continue to dwindle down as well, with more focus being placed on digital video game releases and digital marketplaces being used by more consumers. As a result, the Ubisoft company is facing these challenges and having to close a number of subsidiaries in Europe.
As we all know, the market is constantly evolving, and as an organization, we need to keep up with it. At this time, Ubisoft is facing several challenges due to external factors, such as the decline in sales volume of physical games in favor of digital sales, the centralization of marketing by digitizing all our communication channels, the shift from major retail releases to F2P, mobile and seasonal games and less major physical shows.
To meet the challenges of the future, Ubisoft’s management has decided to close a number of subsidiaries in Europe. Unfortunately, the Ubisoft Benelux entity is subject to the intended closure with most employees departing as of April 1st, 2023.
Due to the closure, Ubisoft BV will fully outsource the current distribution of physical games in the Benelux to a distributor to be announced at a later stage.
Letter – Resetera
According to the letter, one of the office closings is Ubisoft Benelux, which will shut down on April 1, 2023. It seems that the focus of these closures is distribution offices. Since more focus is going into digital releases, it does make sense that these would be the first few offices to see closures. If physical media continues to dwindle down in sales, there is a chance we’ll see other studios follow suit, but for now, we are only hearing a report on Ubisoft taking these steps to cut back on distribution offices this year.
Of course, this is just a report from Resetera and not an official statement from Ubisoft. So take this news as nothing more than a rumor. At the very least, it doesn’t seem like the closures are happening to studios actively working on video game projects. But we’ll continue to monitor the reports surrounding Ubisoft and any official statements put out by the company.
