The cuts and studio shutdowns continue at Ubisoft, this time with layoffs hitting the developer of Skull and Bones and the closure of Trials maker RedLynx.
GamesIndustry.biz reported that Finnish studio RedLynx will close down, with up to 52 people losing their jobs. Meanwhile, Ubisoft Singapore, developer of pirate game Skull and Bones, will lose 70 staff. In a statement, Ubisoft insisted Ubisoft Singapore “remains an important part of Ubisoft’s global production organization.” GI said 70 staff represented around a fifth of Singapore’s total headcount, which suggests 280 staff are left.
Skull & Bones suffered a notoriously choppy development that stretched out over years. After a series of delays, it eventually launched early 2024 with a $70 price tag that Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot justified by describing Skull & Bones as a "quadruple-A game." Year 3 Season 2, titled Crimson Waters, launched in August.
RedLynx, meanwhile, was gobbled up by Ubisoft in 2011 having enjoyed enormous success with the likes of Trials 2, Trials HD, and Trials Evolution, games that challenged players to navigate increasingly difficult side-scrolling courses on a bike. But after the launch of Trials Rising in 2019, RedLynx became a Ubisoft support studio.
It’s a sad end for RedLynx, once one of the most high-profile Xbox Live Arcade developers in the business. I have many fond memories of playing Trials HD and Trials Evolution on lunch breaks with colleagues at my previous stomping ground, Eurogamer, where we’d laugh and shout our way to the finish line in local competitive multiplayer. Trials was Infuriating — of course it was, it’s called Trials — but so much fun.
Ubisoft is of course still cutting costs left, right, and center across the business as it reorganizes itself into a leaner operation focused on fewer games. Multiple studios have closed down in recent years, many staff have lost their jobs, and games have been canceled.
Most recently, Natalie Francis was appointed Studio MD of Massive Entertainment, with Thomas Andrén’s becoming General Manager for Ubisoft’s Creative Network. Massive Entertainment, based in Malmö, Sweden, is currently leading the development of The Division 2 and The Division 3, operates development on the Snowdrop game engine, and works on Ubisoft Connect.