Ubisoft Barcelona has reportedly laid off 51 employees shortly after the launch of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, turning a successful release into another flashpoint in Ubisoft's ongoing restructuring.
Insider Gaming reports that many of the affected developers worked on Black Flag Resynced and that the Assassin's Creed Barcelona team has been disbanded. Sources familiar with the game's internal performance described it as highly successful in pre-release interest and pre-orders, while the report also cites strong critical and community reception.
The timing is what makes the cuts sting. Ubisoft Barcelona workers had already launched strike action over the planned layoffs, with stoppages scheduled on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between June 30 and July 16. Gamers Now covered that earlier dispute as Ubisoft Barcelona workers pushed back against the proposed layoffs, remote-work changes and stalled internal promotions.
Developers say the decision looked settled before launch
According to the report, affected staff believed the cuts were likely to happen regardless of how Black Flag Resynced performed. One reason cited was that Ubisoft Barcelona had not been assigned a follow-up project, despite developers raising concerns about the lack of a new mandate as far back as summer 2025.
The report says Ubisoft often assigns teams to new projects well before their current game ships. In this case, the studio allegedly finished its work on Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced without a new project waiting behind it. A planned launch celebration was also reportedly canceled and replaced with a smaller in-office gathering.
One affected employee told Insider Gaming:
"These layoffs coincide with the broader context of ongoing workplace issues. This is not an isolated event; it reflects a pattern of constant mistreatment, loss of talent, forced departures resulting from the erosion of workers’ rights, and an increasingly top-down management culture that leaves employees with little voice in decisions affecting their work."
Barcelona's cuts sit inside Ubisoft's wider reset
The Barcelona layoffs were part of a larger Ubisoft restructuring announced in June. Earlier reporting from Insider Gaming said the move affected 51 people at Barcelona, equal to 28 percent of the studio, while Ubisoft also closed its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios as part of a wider cost-cutting round affecting roughly 380 employees.
Game Developer reported last week that Ubisoft Barcelona was expected to remain open but be restructured around Rainbow Six. The workers' demands included a binding new studio mandate to keep the 51 affected employees, a five-year protection against future collective dismissals, restored 60 percent monthly work from home, blocked promotions moving forward and a review of pay and benefits.
Ubisoft's own corporate reshuffle adds more context to the dispute. In October 2025, the company launched Vantage Studios, a new creative house responsible for Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Ubisoft said Vantage includes teams in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona and Sofia, bringing together thousands of developers around some of the publisher's biggest franchises.
That makes the Barcelona situation especially grim for staff. Black Flag Resynced appears to have landed well, but the people who helped ship it are now reportedly leaving during the same restructuring that is supposed to focus Ubisoft around its largest brands.