Ubisoft has introduced additional job cuts as a part of its ongoing cost-cutting program, with 105 employees set to depart veteran Tom Clancy video games studio Crimson Storm Leisure.
Based in 1996, the North Carolina-based group has labored on quite a few Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six titles. Extra just lately, the group has developed a number of VR video games, contributed to the failed live-service shooter XDefiant, and spent years engaged on the now-canceled free-to-play spinoff The Division Heartland.
videogameaddicted understands that Crimson Storm Leisure has now been completely scaled again, and recreation growth on the studio has formally ended. The developer, which is about to rejoice its thirtieth anniversary later this yr, will stay open, however merely targeted on behind-the-scenes technical work.
That is the third layoff on the Crimson Storm lately, following 19 job losses final yr and 45 job losses throughout the Crimson Storm and San Francisco in 2024. Earlier than that, and at this time with one other 105 job losses, the corporate had employed 180 individuals in 2022, however has now diminished this quantity.
2026 is already off to a tough begin, with Ubisoft chopping a whole lot of employees and completely closing quite a few studios. In January, the corporate canceled six video games, together with a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, completely closed two Ubisoft studios (Ubisoft Stockholm and Ubisoft Halifax), whereas chopping jobs at its Abu Dhabi workplace, trial studio Crimson Hyperlinks, and Avatar: Pandora’s Frontier firm Large Leisure.
Only a week later, Ubisoft introduced plans to chop 200 jobs at its headquarters in Paris, sparking protests within the French capital. Then, in February, Ubisoft was compelled to reassure followers that growth on the long-awaited Splinter Cell remake continued after 40 jobs have been reduce at Studio Ubisoft Toronto.
For greater than 30 years, Crimson Storm Leisure has labored on greater than 30 recreation initiatives, together with the unique Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, launched in 1998 for the unique PlayStation and N64. The studio then developed Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon for PS2, GameCube, and Xbox in 2001, and went on to contribute to quite a few spin-offs and sequels.
In recent times, the studio has turn into Ubisoft’s VR gaming specialist, with the corporate growing 2016’s social thriller recreation Werewolves Inside, 2017’s well-received Star Trek: Bridge Crew, and 2023’s Murderer’s Creed Nexus VR. This recreation will likely be Crimson Storm’s closing launch.
In recent times, Ubisoft has deserted a number of in-progress initiatives earlier than launch, regardless of years of labor. They’re Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell VR recreation and The Division Heartland, which was introduced in 2021 and confirmed to be accomplished in 2024.
Tom Phillips is videogameaddicted’s information editor. You possibly can contact Tom at tom_phillips@videogameaddicted.com or discover him on Bluesky. @tomphillipseg.bsky.social