Ubisoft lays off up to 60 customer service staff in the UK and US

Ubisoft has confirmed that it has decided to cut up to 60 jobs in its customer service team between the UK and the US.

The details:

• Ubisoft told Eurogamer that the layoffs in its Customer Relation Center team were due to the company shifting its focus to areas where it could have a "significant impact." The publisher estimates that 60 staff members between its offices in Cary, NC, and Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, will be directly affected by the cuts.
• According to former Social Operations Manager Matthew Hayes, the layoffs came as a surprise, as he and others were laid off "without notice." Matthew Harnage, a game composer, also confirmed that he was let go by the company with "no indication or preparation." This has now put Hayes, Harnage, and likely many others in a desperate position to find work, and it has been suggested that Ubisoft has not provided support to those affected.
• Ubisoft has been in a rough spot since Q4 2022, when the company reported poor financial results, resulting in the cancellation of three unannounced projects, and CEO Yves Guillemot's comments on the situation prompted some employees to organize a walkout. Reports that the publisher was also closing a "number of subsidiaries" began to circulate, with the company stating that it was "working on a strategic reorganization of its European business subsidiaries," which was understood to affect its team that isn't directly involved with game development, though this doesn't appear to be entirely the case.

Other recent layoffs:

• Unity has announced that it has laid off 600 more employees, resulting in an 8% reduction in its workforce. The company had already laid off around 200 staff at the beginning of 2023 and between 200 and 400 in July 2022.
• Phoenix Labs, best known for its 2019 free-to-play RPG Dauntless, has confirmed that 9% of its total workforce was laid off last week due to "reorganization" within the company. Although it refused to provide specific figures, it's believed that approximately 30 people were directly affected.