Ubisoft Proposes To Lay Off 55 Employees At Avatar: Frontiers Of Pandora Developer Massive Entertainment

Last week, Ubisoft made headlines when it shut down its Halifax studio, which not only put 71 developers out of a job, but those developers had just unionized two days prior. Today, Ubisoft is continuing this trend by proposing to lay off even more people, this time at its subsidiaries Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm. According to a statement provided to IGN, the restructuring would impact "approximately" 55 workers at the two Swedish studios, but the timeline of this restructuring is unclear. Ubisoft also claims that "the long-term direction for the studios remains unchanged," and doesn't suggest that any ongoing projects, such as the development of The Division 3, will be impacted.

You can read the full statement provided to IGN below.

Earlier today, we informed all employees in our Swedish studios (Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm) about a proposed organizational restructure that may affect approximately 55 roles across Malmö and Stockholm," Ubisoft said in a statement passed to IGN today. 

This restructure follows the completion of the Voluntary Leave Program launched during the fall of 2025, a finalized long-term roadmap, and a completed staffing and appointment process, which together have provided clearer visibility into the structure and capacity required to support the two studios’ work and sustainably over time.

These proposed changes are forward-looking and structural, they are not related to individual performance, recent deliveries, or the quality of the work produced by the teams.

The long-term direction for the studios remains unchanged, and we will continue to serve as the global home and lead for to The Division franchise, move forward with an unannounced innovative tech project with a refined team setup, and play a central role in the development of Snowdrop and Ubisoft Connect.

The proposed restructuring will begin with a focus on individual agreements and impacted employees are being informed directly and supported with care and respect inline with local regulations.

As noted in the statement, this news follows a voluntary leave program at Massive that began last October, allowing employees that might potentially be laid off to do so on their own terms. The announcement of further layoffs suggests Ubisoft wasn't satisfied with the number of people, if any, who took the offer.

Known for developing Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in 2023 and Star Wars: Outlaws in 2024, Massive has been one of Ubisoft's most prolific subsidiaries in recent years. All of this is on top of Massive's work developing and maintaining The Division 2, which had an expansion as recently as last year. Massive is currently in the midst of developing The Division 2: Survivors (an added survival extraction mode), The Division Resurgence (a mobile entry in the series), and The Division 3.

Last year, Ubisoft announced a similar layoff proposal at its subsidiary RedLynx, known for the Trials series. Last March, it founded a new subsidiary in partnership with Tencent, who owns a minority stake in the new company, to manage Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Rainbow Six.

[Source: IGN]