Ubisoft has confirmed that it is currently undergoing a “strategic reorganization”, following rumors that it is closing down some European offices.
As reported by NME (opens in a new tab) (through Games industry. (opens in a new tab)), Ubisoft has said that it is currently undergoing a “strategic reorganization of its European business subsidiaries”. This statement, from a Ubisoft spokesperson, follows a rumor that the company plans to close one of its European offices, more specifically the one in Benelux, the Netherlands, on April 1, 2023.
According to a post on reset (opens in a new tab) A few days ago (March 3, 2023), Ubisoft Benelux employees received an email stating: “As we all know, the market is constantly evolving and as an organization we need to keep up to date. Right now, Ubisoft is facing several challenges due to external factors, such as the decrease in the sales volume of physical games in favor of digital sales, the centralization of marketing by digitizing all our communication channels, the shift from large retail releases to F2P, games mobile and seasonal and less big physical shows.
The email continues: “To meet the challenges of the future, Ubisoft’s management has decided to close several subsidiaries in Europe. Unfortunately, the Ubisoft Benelux entity is subject to the planned closure and most of the employees will leave from 1st of April 2023”. the snippet purportedly provided by an employee ends: “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.”
When contacted by NME, a Ubisoft spokesperson explained: “Ubisoft’s publishing group is working on a strategic reorganization of its European business subsidiaries. This process is ongoing and we have no further details to share at this stage.” It doesn’t really confirm or deny that Ubisoft Benelux, or any of its other European subsidiaries, are going to go out of business in the not too distant future.
It has not been a good time for Ubisoft after the company’s CEO was recently criticized for placing responsibility on staff after several underperforming Ubisoft games. This came on the heels of the company’s next pirated game. Skull & Bones was delayed yet again, and many other Ubisoft projects were reportedly cancelled.. It’s not all bad though Ubisoft still has an unannounced “big and premium” game for next year.
To find out what else we have to expect, take a look at our new games 2023 list.
