‘Below Any Reasonable Standard’: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced Developers Fighting to Save Jobs, Secure Fair Severance Pay at Ubisoft Barcelona

Striking staff at Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced co-developer Ubisoft Barcelona have slammed the company’s initial severance pay offer as “below any resonable standard,” after employees were told that up to 51 jobs were being eliminated.

Layoffs at Ubisoft Barcelona were announced last month as part of a wider wave of job losses across the firm. 380 staff are being let go in this latest downsizing, spread across Ubisoft offices in Winnipeg and Belgrade (which will close completely), in Barcelona, and in the company’s global publishing division.

At Ubisoft Barcelona, up to 51 jobs have been placed at risk as Ubisoft plans to cut the team’s size and restrict it to working just on the Rainbow Six franchise in future, IGN understands.

The plight of Barcelona’s staff has sparked headlines, with the likely job losses contrasted against the commercial success of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, which sold an impressive 2 million copies in just 24 hours. While development on Resynced was led by Ubisoft Singapore, Barcelona contributed significantly to the title. It has previously been reported that the company handled Resynced’s underwater diving side-missions, though IGN understands that the studio also developed a swathe of other locations, quests, and contracts.

Several main quests were handled by Barcelona’s Assassin’s Creed team during more than two years of Resynced development, including reportedly several showcased during pre-release hands-on previews, alongside development on a specific in-game region (Gibara), plus work on enemy combat AI and bosses.

Yesterday, as negotiations began to save some roles and secure fair severance pay for those leaving, remaining Ubisoft Barcelona staff joined a strike with around 90 people in attendance. Photos from the walkout show a large banner that reads “Corporate Greed” in the style of “Assassin’s Creed,” and flags for the CGT (General Confederation of Labor) union.

Now, staff impacted by the planned redundancies have spoken to IGN about the current situation, and said that a further strike will take place tomorrow, Thursday, July 16.

“The severance pay they’re offering is far below the minimum expected, and below what they’ve offered for previously laid off employees from the studio,” one Ubisoft Barcelona employee told IGN.

“There are still discussions about saving some of the jobs, and it’s likely that at least some will move to Rainbow Six, but the job positions themselves seem quite definite, and the Assassin’s Creed team has been certainly cut.”

Ubisoft has cut hundreds of staff and fully closed numerous studios in recent months, with 2026 already off to a brutal start. In January, the company canceled six games including its Prince of Persia: Sands of Time remake and closed two Ubisoft studios completely (Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Halifax), while making layoffs at its office in Abu Dhabi, at Trials studio RedLynx and at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora outfit Massive Entertainment. Just a week after that, Ubisoft announced plans to ditch 200 jobs at its company headquarters in Paris, leading to protests within the French capital.

In February, Ubisoft was forced to reassure fans that its long-awaited Splinter Cell remake remained in development after 40 jobs were eliminated at its studio Ubisoft Toronto. Then, in March, Ubisoft confirmed that 105 staff were set to depart veteran Tom Clancy game studio Red Storm Entertainment, as part of a move that downsized the studio permanently, following three previous waves of layoffs at the company since 2022.

“We are aware of the strike action announced at Ubisoft Barcelona and respect employees’ right to express their views,” a Ubisoft spokesperson told IGN in a statement today. “Ubisoft has initiated a proposed restructuring of Ubisoft Barcelona as part of broader efforts to reduce costs and focus resources on strategic priorities. Under this proposal, the studio would focus solely on Rainbow Six projects, which may impact up to 51 employees.

“This remains a proposal, and no final decision will be made until the collective consultation process has concluded. We are committed to constructive dialogue with employee representatives and to supporting employees throughout this period.”

Image credit: CGT

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social