Ubisoft Opens Talks on Voluntary Departure Plan Affecting 100 Jobs in Germany

Ubisoft is pursuing another substantial reduction to its workforce, this time across its studios in Germany. The company has begun discussions with employee representatives over a proposed voluntary departure plan that could see roughly 100 people leave Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin, and Ubisoft Mainz.

The proposed total represents about one-sixth of the approximately 600 employees said to work across the three locations. Rather than announcing compulsory layoffs immediately, Ubisoft is seeking voluntary departures supported by severance-style buyouts. That distinction is important for the people involved, but it does not change the wider picture: another major publisher is looking to shrink its development footprint after years of restructuring, cancellations, and job cuts.

An Ubisoft representative confirmed that discussions with the German Works Council began during the previous week. The company described the measure as a proposed voluntary departure plan covering the three German studios. The precise terms remain subject to those discussions, meaning the ultimate number of departures and the final financial package have not been confirmed.

Buyout terms reportedly tied to salary and tenure

Details from people familiar with the proposal indicate that the potential payout could be calculated using an employee's monthly salary, multiplied by 1.5, and then multiplied again by the number of years that person has worked for Ubisoft. However, that formula has not been finalized publicly, and it may change during negotiations with employee representatives.

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For workers, voluntary packages can provide more agency than a direct redundancy process. Someone who was already considering a change may be able to leave with financial support, while others may choose to remain. But voluntary programs also bring their own uncertainty. If a studio has been told to reduce headcount, employees must weigh their personal finances and career plans against the possibility of further organizational changes down the line.

That concern is particularly sharp in this case because the three German studios were already affected by 185 layoffs in 2025. A new plan targeting another 100 departures sends a difficult message to teams that have already endured a previous round of cuts and are now being asked to navigate another period of instability.

What a German Works Council does

The negotiations are taking place with a German Works Council, known locally as a Betriebsrat. A works council is an elected body of employees within a company that represents staff interests in discussions with management. It can address workplace conditions, staffing proposals, and other matters that affect employees' day-to-day lives and long-term employment.

It is not identical to a union. German unions generally organize workers across an occupation or an industry, while a works council operates within a specific company. Still, the council can be an important counterweight during a restructuring process, especially where an employer is proposing terms for people to leave voluntarily.

In practical terms, the council's involvement means Ubisoft's suggested package is not simply a finished offer handed down to staff. The details must be discussed, and the resulting agreement could determine how attractive or accessible the departure plan is for employees across Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Mainz.

A complicated German studio network

Ubisoft's internal structure in Germany is not easy to explain, in part because the company's studios carry years of shared history, renamed divisions, and shifting responsibilities. Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Mainz are connected to the legacy of Blue Byte, the German developer and publisher founded in 1988.

Blue Byte is associated with influential PC strategy series including Battle Isle and The Settlers. Over time, its work became intertwined with the Anno franchise and with Related Designs, the studio that later became Ubisoft Mainz. That history still matters to players because it helps explain why Ubisoft's German operations have long been associated with deep strategy games, long-running PC communities, and some of the publisher's most recognizable simulation-focused work.

Today, though, the corporate reporting lines are more complicated than the shared Blue Byte heritage suggests. Ubisoft Mainz is part of Creative House 4, a structure that also includes Ubisoft Milan, Ubisoft Montpellier, and Ubisoft Nadeo in Paris. The Creative House model has been part of Ubisoft's broader organizational changes during 2026.

Ubisoft Düsseldorf and Ubisoft Berlin, meanwhile, are grouped under a newer Creative Network arrangement. That network consists of studios outside the Creative House groupings that support the houses and their projects. The distinction may seem like internal corporate language, but it can have real consequences for teams: a studio's role, leadership, budget priorities, and future projects may all be shaped by where it sits in the publisher's structure.

Franchises tied to the teams remain significant

The German operations remain linked to a notable collection of Ubisoft properties. Anno is the clearest example, with Ubisoft Mainz closely associated with the city-building and economic strategy series. The franchise has maintained a dedicated PC audience across multiple eras, and its design depends on specialized experience in systems-heavy strategy development.

The broader German group is also associated with work connected to series including Rayman, Might & Magic, Prince of Persia, and Beyond Good & Evil. Ubisoft has not said how a voluntary departure plan might affect individual games, teams, or projects. There is therefore no basis to conclude that any specific franchise has been cancelled, delayed, or moved because of these discussions.

Nevertheless, workforce reductions can affect a publisher well beyond the immediate number of departures. Experienced staff often hold vital project knowledge, technical expertise, and relationships with partners and communities. In strategy games especially, where balancing, content pipelines, and post-launch support can be highly specialized, the loss of experienced developers can be felt long after a restructuring announcement has passed.

Part of a wider run of cuts

The proposed German departures follow other recent Ubisoft reductions. Ubisoft RedLynx in Finland is facing closure plans, while Ubisoft Singapore has been hit by 70 job cuts. Placed alongside the German proposal, these developments point to a company-wide effort to reduce costs across multiple regions rather than an isolated decision about one studio.

Ubisoft has spent years attempting to reshape its production model amid delayed releases, changing player habits, rising development costs, and pressure to improve financial performance. The company's restructuring has included efforts to concentrate resources around key brands while rethinking how support studios and central teams operate.

For employees, the human impact is more immediate than any organizational chart. A voluntary exit plan may be preferable to mandatory redundancies, and a meaningful buyout can offer a buffer in a volatile jobs market. Yet staff who stay also face the challenge of continuing projects after colleagues leave, often while trying to understand whether a new structure will bring stability or merely delay another round of reductions.

Investor pressure remains in the background

Ubisoft's financial position continues to loom over the restructuring. Its share price fell again after the latest cuts, dropping below EUR5 for the first time in a month. That remains dramatically below the company's 2018 level, with the stock down by more than 95 percent from that earlier point.

Cost-cutting plans are frequently presented as a route toward restoring confidence, but markets do not always treat layoffs and closures as proof that a turnaround is working. Investors may see repeated reductions as evidence that the underlying problems have not been solved, particularly when a company continues to revise its internal organization.

For Ubisoft, the immediate next step is the Works Council process in Germany. Until those talks produce a final agreement, the proposed figure of 100 voluntary departures should be understood as a target rather than a completed reduction. Even so, it is another unsettling chapter for Ubisoft staff across Europe and for fans watching the future of the teams behind some of the publisher's most enduring PC game series.