Ubisoft has cut 45 staff across two of its North American studios, as part of its third round of redundancies so far this year.
The company has laid off workers at both Ubisoft San Francisco, the developer of XDefiant, and Red Storm Entertainment, which had been working on the now-cancelled The Division: Heartland live service game.
“Last week Ubisoft San Francisco and Red Storm Entertainment informed their teams of a restructuring that will result in 45 employees leaving Ubisoft,” a spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Eurogamer.
“This difficult yet necessary decision was made to align these studios’ organizations with their future business and development objectives. We are committed to providing comprehensive support to those affected, including severity and career assistance, and we thank them for their many contributions to Ubisoft. ”
Ubisoft canned The Division: Heartland after more than three years’ worth of work back in May, when the publisher said it needed to refocus resources on “bigger opportunities.”
At the time, Ubisoft said it was moving some staff to work on San Francisco’s XDefiant, as well as ongoing work on Rainbow Six.
Back in June, Ubisoft laid off 33 staff at its Toronto studio as part of a “targeted realignment.” The company is currently working on the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake and Splinter Cell. To further 45 workers were let go from Ubisoft’s global publishing teams in April.
Ubisoft has repeatedly shrunk in size over the past couple of years as it grapples with disappointing financial results and searches for its next big hit. The company is doubling down on Assassin’s Creed over the next few years, beginning with the arrival of Japan-set Assassin’s Creed Shadows in November, with several other games in the pipeline. The publisher also has Star Wars Outlaws set to arrive in just a couple of weeks.
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