Ubisoft Weighs Voluntary Buyouts Affecting German Studios

Ubisoft’s proposed cuts in Germany could affect around 100 roles across its Düsseldorf, Berlin and Mainz studios. The plan centers on voluntary buyouts, but negotiations with the Works Council are ongoing and no agreement has been reached. That distinction matters: a proposal sets out a possible direction, while the negotiations will determine whether the company and employee representatives can agree on how it’s carried out. For staff, the uncertainty may be as consequential as the eventual number of departures, since teams can’t plan confidently until the scope and terms are clearer.

Voluntary buyouts also describe a process, not a guaranteed outcome. The source material doesn’t specify the terms, which roles would be included, or whether enough employees would choose to leave. Those details can shape how a reduction affects a studio’s ability to keep projects staffed. If too few people accept, management and the Works Council may have to revisit the plan; if many do, the teams still have to account for the skills and experience that leave with them. For now, those are practical questions raised by the proposal, not confirmed outcomes.

Düsseldorf could take the largest share

The largest impact may fall on Düsseldorf, where sources cited by Game File expect more than half of the reductions. Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed the proposed scale. Düsseldorf also went through substantial job losses in 2025 during an earlier restructuring. If the reported distribution proves accurate, a large portion of the new cuts could land at a studio that has already absorbed significant change.

That history makes the reported concentration more than a matter of arithmetic. Repeated reductions can affect how employees view the stability of their teams and the prospects for work based there, even before a company announces a final plan. The available information doesn’t establish how the previous restructuring changed Düsseldorf’s staffing or projects, so it would be premature to claim a specific operational impact. But the earlier losses give employees and observers reason to ask what role the studio is expected to play after this round.

Studios face a shift in focus

Mainz leads development on the Anno series. Berlin and Düsseldorf mainly support projects including Rainbow Six Siege, Rayman Legends Retold and The Settlers. Managing director Benedikt Grindel told employees by email that the proposed changes aim to refocus the studios’ roles and capabilities.

That explanation points to an organizational goal, but it leaves open what the refocus will mean in practice. A studio’s role can change through staffing, project assignments, or a narrower set of capabilities; the source doesn’t say which of those Ubisoft has proposed for each location. Nor does it clarify whether the three studios would take on different work or whether some responsibilities would move elsewhere. Those are the questions employees will need answered to understand how the plan affects their day-to-day work.

There’s a real tension here. Ubisoft is describing a change in focus while proposing fewer roles, and the success of that combination will depend on whether the remaining teams can support the work assigned to them. Similar restructuring plans often turn on that balance: reducing costs may be a clear corporate objective, but retaining the experience needed to deliver projects is a separate operational problem. The source gives no detail on Ubisoft’s staffing model or project schedules, so the extent of that challenge can’t yet be measured.

A local proposal in a wider restructuring

These discussions come amid wider reductions across Ubisoft. This year, the company has proposed cuts in Singapore and plans to close RedLynx. It has been reducing headcount for several years as it seeks lower costs and adjusts to a slower release schedule. The German proposal therefore sits within a longer effort to reshape the company, though the available information doesn’t establish that every location or studio is being changed for the same reason.

For a publisher with teams supporting different projects, local cuts can also raise broader questions about how work is divided. If you're working in this space, the useful signal to watch is what Ubisoft says about responsibilities after the negotiations—not just the headline number of roles. A reduction’s effect depends on which teams lose capacity, which work stays in place, and whether the remaining staff have the experience required to carry it. None of those answers has been confirmed for the German studios.

And this is the part most people overlook: a voluntary plan can still reshape a team even when the final headcount is lower than the proposed figure. The employees who accept a buyout may have skills that are difficult to replace, while others may remain in roles that have changed around them. That’s a possibility inherent in this kind of process, not a claim about which employees Ubisoft will lose. The negotiations and any subsequent company explanation will determine how much of that concern applies here.

What the negotiations will clarify

The outcome of Germany’s negotiations will show how much of that restructuring now reaches the publisher’s local development teams. It should also help clarify whether the reported figure and the expected concentration in Düsseldorf remain part of the plan. Until Ubisoft and the Works Council reach an agreement, the scale and distribution remain unsettled. This is more significant than it looks: the proposal combines a sizeable possible reduction with a stated change in studio focus, and each could affect how the other is implemented.

For now, the clearest account is limited. Around 100 roles could be affected; voluntary buyouts are at the center of the proposal; talks are ongoing; and Ubisoft hasn’t confirmed the proposed scale. The company’s broader reductions provide context, but they don’t answer what will happen to Anno, Rainbow Six Siege, or the other projects named in the report. The immediate test is whether the eventual agreement sets out a credible structure for the studios after any departures. Until then, the plan remains a proposal. And the staff are left waiting.

KitGuru says: Ubisoft’s restructuring continues, with more studios now affected.