According to IGN, Ubisoft has shut down its Halifax Studio in Canada, impacting 71 positions, just three weeks after 61 of its 71 workers voted to unionize with the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada. The union was officially certified in December 2024 after a six-month process where 74% of eligible employees, including producers, programmers, and artists, voted in favor. Ubisoft claims the closure is part of a two-year, company-wide effort to “streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs,” citing declining revenue from the mobile game Assassin’s Creed: Rebellion, which will also wind down. The publisher stated it is offering severance and career assistance to impacted workers. This marks the first Ubisoft union in North America.
The Timing Is Brutal
Look, you can’t look at this timeline and not raise an eyebrow. The union gets officially certified in mid-December, and by early January, the studio is shuttered. Ubisoft’s statement that this is unrelated to the unionization effort is, frankly, hard to swallow at face value. Companies always have a “business reasons” justification ready to go. It’s the corporate playbook. But here’s the thing: when a union vote is the single most significant labor event at a studio in years, and its closure follows within weeks, the burden of proof is on Ubisoft to show this was a long-planned, unavoidable business decision. And their track record doesn’t inspire confidence.
A History of Resistance
This isn’t even the first time union efforts have clashed with this specific studio’s history. IGN’s report notes that the Halifax studio originated from Longtail Studios, which Ubisoft acquired in 2015. And get this: back in 2008-2009, there was an unsuccessful union drive at Longtail’s Quebec studio. Sources at the time described “fairly open union-busting efforts” by management, including mass layoffs blamed on the economy. Sound familiar? It’s a pattern. Now, over a decade later, a successful union vote at the sister studio is followed immediately by its total closure. That’s not a great look for a company already under fire for its workplace culture.
The Broader Ubisoft Context
To be fair, Ubisoft is genuinely in a cost-cutting spiral. They’ve had disappointing releases, falling revenues, and have been laying people off and closing studios for a couple years now. They even brought in Tencent last year to manage major franchises. So the “broader restructuring” argument has some merit. But that’s what makes this so cynical, if it *is* related. They can point to a real, company-wide financial mess and say, “See? We have to close things. It’s just business.” It provides plausible deniability. The workers, meanwhile, are left “devastated.” They won their union to gain a seat at the table and protect themselves, only to have the table taken away entirely.
What Happens Next?
The union says it’s “looking into all avenues to fight for the rights of our members.” What does that mean? Probably exploring legal options around bad-faith bargaining or challenging the closure itself. But it’s an uphill battle. Proving the closure was retaliatory in court is incredibly difficult, especially with a struggling parent company. So, what’s the real impact? It sends a chilling message. To other Ubisoft studios, and to the wider game industry where union efforts are growing. The message is: unionize, and you might just accelerate your studio’s demise. Whether that’s true or not, the perception alone is a powerful deterrent. And for a company trying to rebuild trust, that’s a terrible legacy.
