It was revealed yesterday that Ubisoft had cancelled three unannounced games and delayed Skull & Bones yet again, this time to "early 2023 – 2024." In an email to employees, CEO Yves Guillemot wrote, "Today more than ever, I need your full energy and commitment to ensure we get back on the path to success," as if they were the ones who made these decisions.
As reported by Kotaku, the company held an emergency meeting with investors on Wednesday, January 11, to announce that drastic cost-cutting measures were going to be taken due to low sales in 2022. Naturally, this means people will lose their jobs. There will be "targeted restructuring, divesting some non-core assets and usual natural attrition."
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Natural attrition occurs when people leave the company, and it's being implied they won't be replaced, leaving the remaining employees to take on their workload in order to ensure the success of the company, as per Guillemot's demands. It's a pretty disgusting move that will likely see remaining staff overworked and undervalued while also under increased pressure from managers and higher-ups.
Ubisoft has now cancelled seven games in just two years. The company has also shifted the way it develops its popular Assassin's Creed series. Rather than yearly premium games, the upcoming Assassin's Creed Infinity will serve as a sort of live-service hub for future installments of the story.
If successful, this move would give Ubisoft a proper live-service money earner, something it doesn't have at the moment. Whether or not this would solve all of the company's issues is another question entirely though.
Guillemot's message to staff also read, "Today more than ever, I need your full energy and commitment to ensure we get back on the path to success. I am also asking that each of you be especially careful and strategic with your spending and initiatives, to ensure we’re being as efficient and lean as possible." He needs them to do more with less, so things don't look good at the moment.