Ubisoft has shut down its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios and warned that up to 380 roles could go across the company, the latest and largest round of cuts in a restructuring the French publisher has run since the start of 2026. Staff at both support studios were told on the morning of Wednesday 10 June 2026, with the studio closures landing alongside fresh cuts to Ubisoft’s Global Publishing division and a planned reorganisation of its Barcelona studio. The two closed studios employed around 100 people each, part of a workforce of more than 15,000.
Winnipeg and Belgrade Shut Their Doors
The closures were first reported by Insider Gaming, which revealed on 10 June that Ubisoft Winnipeg had been shut down before confirming hours later that Belgrade had gone the same way. Ubisoft Winnipeg opened in 2018 as a support studio built around open-world development and the publisher’s proprietary Anvil and Snowdrop engines, the technology behind titles such as Rainbow Six Siege and Immortals Fenyx Rising. Across eight years it contributed to Rainbow Six Siege, XDefiant, Far Cry 6 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and most recently helped ship Rainbow Six Mobile. The studio had grown to roughly 100 staff, and the breaking report put the number losing their jobs at around 65.
Ubisoft Belgrade was formed in 2016 with just 10 employees and grew into a roughly 100-strong Serbian support studio, all of whom have now been let go. It began on PC releases before shifting to console work, lending production support to Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands and Breakpoint, Steep, The Crew 2, Rainbow Six and Skull & Bones. Ubisoft had not responded to requests for comment on the Belgrade closure at the time of writing.
| Studio | Founded | Staff | Notable Games |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubisoft Winnipeg | 2018 | Around 100 | Rainbow Six Siege, XDefiant, Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Rainbow Six Mobile |
| Ubisoft Belgrade | 2016 | Around 100 (all let go) | Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Steep, The Crew 2, Skull & Bones, Rainbow Six |
Up to 380 Roles Across Four Parts of the Company
The two closures sit inside a wider cost-reduction exercise. Alongside Winnipeg and Belgrade, Ubisoft is cutting roles in its Global Publishing division and seeking to reorganise its Barcelona studio, which is expected to stay open but refocus solely on the Rainbow Six franchise. A source familiar with the situation told Game Developer the layoffs are pending consultation and could eliminate up to 380 roles in total. Ubisoft has framed the action as a move to reduce costs and focus on new strategic priorities, with sources saying its interproject processes are being ‘revamped’ under new strategies, a shift that has driven the studio closures, layoffs and project reassignments.
Rainbow Six Siege Teams Ramped Off at Ubisoft Montreal
The disruption reaches beyond the two shuttered offices. Around 120 people working on Rainbow Six Siege, and roughly 50 working on Rainbow Six Siege Mobile and an unannounced project, have been ramped off at Ubisoft Montreal, though sources stressed these are not being counted as additional layoffs at this stage. An Ubisoft source kept the focus on the studio’s flagship live title, saying: ‘Rainbow Six Siege remains a strong brand. As projects move through different stages of development and live operations, it is normal practice to adjust team size and resource allocation based on evolving priorities and operational needs.’
The Restructuring Behind the Closures
Wednesday’s cuts extend a restructuring Ubisoft began earlier in 2026 with the stated aim of becoming a more ‘gamer-centric’ company. That programme is reorganising the publisher into five ‘creative houses’, each taking charge of key franchises, and is paired with a return-to-office mandate that requires all teams on-site five days a week. The cost-reduction drive was announced shortly after Ubisoft secured a $1.25 billion investment from Chinese giant Tencent, which took a stake in one of the new creative houses, Vantage Studios. The reorganisation has met resistance, with a number of French unions representing Ubisoft workers staging an international strike in February and some employees calling for new leadership at the family-owned and run publisher.
The timing lands against an unusually thin release calendar. Ubisoft is set to launch a remake of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag in July and has announced a fresh remake of Rayman Legends, but its wider 2026 slate is sparse after many projects, including new Far Cry and Ghost Recon entries, were reportedly pushed to 2027 and beyond to lift their quality before release. With the layoffs still pending consultation, the final scale of the cuts is not yet fixed, and the reshaped Barcelona studio is due to turn its attention solely to the next wave of Rainbow Six projects as Ubisoft’s leaner 2026 plays out toward the Black Flag remake in July.