"We deeply value the contributions of both teams."
The video game layoffs continue. Ubisoft has announced it's closing Finnish studio RedLynx, creator of the Trials series of games, and that there's to be significant layoffs at Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced studio, Ubisoft Singapore.
"Today, we informed our teams of a proposal to close RedLynx in Finland, subject to the local change negotiation process, which would affect up to 52 positions," Ubisoft said in a statement seen by Eurogamer. "At Ubisoft Singapore, 70 positions have been impacted to align the studio with upcoming production needs. The studio remains an important part of Ubisoft's global production organisation."
Ubisoft added: "We deeply value the contributions of both teams and recognise the impact this may have on our colleagues. We are committed to supporting our teams throughout this process and conducting it with care and respect."
Ubisoft didn't expand on its reasons for closing RedLynx, but the studio's last major standalone release was 2019's Trials Rising, suggesting it might have played more of a support role since then. Ubisoft has also been undergoing a top-to-bottom reorganisation of its business, shuffling a number of major franchises under new subsidiary company Vantage, while stretching the Ubisoft Massive label to cover more of its brands.
Ubisoft acquired RedLynx back in 2011, after the breakout success of Trials HD - a motorbike platform game with strong puzzle elements. Eurogamer loved Trials HD and I visited RedLynx shortly after its release to find out more about where the idea came from. The studio's leaders then, Tero Virtala and Antti Ilvessuo, have since moved on. Virtala notably became CEO of Remedy Entertainment (a post he recently left), and Ilvessuo - the creator of Trials - established new studio Channel 37 to make watery crafting survival game The Last Caretaker. That game appears to have done well in early access on Steam, by the way, and now approaches a spring 2027 1.0 release, on both PC and Xbox.
Ilvessuo, in response to today's news, said this to Eurogamer: "I'm proud of what we built at RedLynx, but my part in that story ended years ago. In 2012, Trials Evolution's riddle started, and its final chapter is set in 2113. So even something we made back then still has most of its future ahead of it.
"I don't know who - or what - will open that box. But someone has to care enough to carry the key all that way. That's what matters. Making something that will still mean something, something that has weight and history in a world that may be totally different in the future. Onwards!"
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced, meanwhile, seemed popular, coasting past 3.5 million sales in only a fortnight, and a Switch 2 version is reportedly on the way. Dom scored the game three out of five stars in our Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced review.
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