More than 1,200 Ubisoft employees are striking in response to the company’s recent controversies and structural changes. In a new report from GI.biz, Ubisoft Paris’ Solidaires Informatique union rep Marc Rutschlé confirmed the strike, adding that activity occurred primarily in France, with some workers at Ubisoft Milan also impacted. Demonstrations are expected to run through February 12. While organized by the aforementioned Solidaires Informatique trade union, involved organizations also include Ubisoft’s STJV, CFE-CGC, CGT, and Printemps Ecologique.
Game Developer reporter Chris Kerr shared photos of the demonstrations to social media platform Bluesky early Wednesday morning. In his post, Kerr confirms that demonstrations began on Tuesday, Feb. 11, and cites the company’s return-to-office (RTO) policy and controversial company-wide cost-cutting measures as among the primary reasons for the protests.
“NEW: A Ubisoft union rep at Solidaires Informatique told me that around 1,200 workers went on strike yesterday to protest a five-day RTO policy and ongoing cost-cutting at the French publisher,” Kerr explains. “The international strike will continue today and tomorrow at Ubisoft studios around the world.” As part of the new RTO policy, workers are expected to work on-site five days a week.
\Ubisoft demonstrators are now calling for the company’s embattled CEO, Yves Guillemot, to step down.
Recent Ubisoft controversies intensify employee, fan frustrations
The French publisher’s employees first called for a company-wide strike last month after the brand announced it would close its Stockholm studio, its Swedish subsidiary Massive Entertainment, and the newly unionized Halifax studio. Ubisoft’s Nova Scotia-based studio, behind mobile titles like “Assassin’s Creed Rebellion,” became the company’s first North American studio to unionize. Overall, Ubisoft’s January 2026 cuts eliminated hundreds of employee positions and cancelled six upcoming games, including its long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake.
In November 2025, Ubisoft postponed the release of its H1 FY2025-26 financial report and halted trading. The company’s unexpected delay, later attributed to accounting issues, occurred a few months after the launch of its “joint venture” with Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent. The latter has invested more than $1.1 billion in a new Ubisoft subsidiary called Vantage Studios. off in July 2025, and new “creative houses” that oversee Ubisoft’s most well-known IPs: Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six.
French video game studio Ubisoft has announced the closure of Ubisoft Halifax, the company’s Canadian studio, as part of company-wide cost-cutting strategies. The studio’s closure will affect more than 70 employees’ positions. The company’s Nova Scotia-based studio — the team behind Ubisoft’s mobile games like “Assassin’s Creed Rebellion” — made headlines late last month after 61 employees joined the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada.
“At this stage, it seems clear to us that Yves Guillemot has no knowledge or understanding of his company or its employees,” Rutschlé told GI.biz. “The company is continuing its cost reduction and layoff plan. Our teams are already working under pressure, often understaffed. After several years without pay rises (or very small increases), we understand that once again, employees will not receive a raise this year.”
At the time of writing, Ubisoft is down -0.099, or about 9.34 percent.
