After the Benelux branch, now Ubisoft also says goodbye to Italy. No, don’t worry: the development studio in Milan, which gave us the two Mario + Rabbids games, will continue to operate. The company that closed its doors was in fact the commercial one, which had already undergone several downsizings in past years.
Wired took care of drawing up a precise picture of the situation, in a long article published today. Ubisoft Italia had already undergone a heavy downsizing in terms of staff, remaining with just 14 employees. Since March 1, 2023, the company has been in liquidation and all employees have been made redundant. As painful as it may be, it is part of a series of maneuvers that the French-Canadian publisher and developer is implementing in a serious period of crisis. And she’s not alone.
There are several reasons why Ubisoft has made this decision, even if at the moment there is only talk of a reorganization strategy of the business branches operating in Europe. The same company claims that it does not have any kind of details to disclose, as reported in a note published on Wired. However, some hypotheses could be traced back to the physical market, in sharp decline, with the European branches that probably organize the distribution of the same. With such a sharp decline in retail copies, publishers and companies are very likely to step in where there are the most losses, just as they did today.
The closure of Ubisoft will probably follow that of many other divisions, even if it is still early to talk about it. However, 2023 continues to record a negative trend for employees in the tech world, who find themselves dealing with sudden layoffs and huge personnel cuts. The reasons? A recession that is affecting various countries of the world and galloping inflation, which is putting the entire global economic scenario at serious risk.
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