Ubisoft has shuttered its Halifax studio just after it had successfully formed a union.
Ubisoft Halifax employed 71 people and was best known for working on mobile games like Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and Rainbow Six Mobile. It was founded in 2003 under the name of Longtail Studios and acquired by Ubisoft in 2015.
The closure news is particularly significant because Ubisoft Halifax had only just announced earlier this week that it had formed a union with the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada, having received certification from the Nova Scotia Labour Board. This made Ubisoft Halifax the first of the French gaming giant’s North American teams to unionize.
In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft claimed that the closure of the Halifax team had nothing to do with its unionization. According to a spokesperson, the shutdown is part of Ubisoft’s broader cost-cutting measures that began prior to the Halifax studio’s unionization process. These measures have included Ubisoft shuttering its San Francisco and Osaka studios amid a wider swath of layoffs in recent months.
The company added that it’s “committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
