Ubisoft is expanding its Assassin’s Creed team by 40%

Ubisoft has confirmed that it has plans to grow the Assassin’s Creed team by 40% "over the coming years".

The details:

• The publisher revealed its intention to focus on the Assassin's Creed franchise going forward in its recently released end-of-year financial report, with plans to increase the number of talent working on the series by 40% "in the coming years." Employees currently working on Ubisoft's other IPs and projects will be brought over to the expanding team to help grow it from its current headcount of around 2,000 to 2,800, with new hires still being brought in.
• The decision to devote more resources to the franchise is likely due to its recent success, with Assassin's Creed: Valhalla having a playerbase that is 44% larger than that of Origins in 2017 and 19% larger than the previous title Odyssey in the same timeframe. This is expected to grow even more, with the company reportedly developing a total of ten games in the series, including the upcoming Mirage and VR title Nexus, which is set for a 2023 release.
• Ubisoft reported net bookings of $1.89 billion for the fiscal year 22-23, a decrease of 18% year on year, with net losses of $538 million, compared to $87 million the previous year. Following the cancellation of multiple projects in Q4 2022, as well as some controversial comments from CEO Yves Guillemot, it appears that Ubisoft is following the current industry trend of sticking to what it knows best, with fewer experimental projects that could cause more financial losses in the future.

What else is going on at Ubisoft?

• Ubisoft has confirmed that up to 60 customer service employees in the US and the UK have been laid off. Several affected employees claim that the layoffs came without notice or preparation, putting many in a difficult situation.
• On June 12, the publisher will host its own showcase event called Ubisoft Forward Live. The company is expected to reveal some major releases, the most notable of which are future Assassin's Creed titles and Massive Entertainment's Avatar game.
• Sources claimed in January that two new Far Cry games were in the works. Originally intended to be a single-player game, the project was split into two titles: a mainline single-player game and a multiplayer-only extraction shooter.