100 Jobs Targeted in Germany: Ubisoft Cuts Hit Anno and Düsseldorf Studios
Ubisoft's aggressive European restructuring has crossed the Rhine with sudden force. According to an investigative report by Stephen Totilo at Game File and confirmed across the industry, the French gaming giant has formally initiated a voluntary departure scheme targeting approximately 100 positions across its three German development hubs: Ubisoft Düsseldorf, Ubisoft Berlin, and Ubisoft Mainz. The program threatens more than 10% of Ubisoft's 800-strong German workforce.
Düsseldorf Heavily Targeted and Anno Developers Impacted
More than half of the proposed cuts are directed at Ubisoft Düsseldorf. The studio acts as a critical technical backbone for the group, having co-developed Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, spearheaded proprietary VR projects, and maintained live competitive support on Rainbow Six. Meanwhile, the Berlin studio, originally established to reinforce core production pipelines on the Far Cry franchise, is also subject to immediate staffing reductions.
The most alarming consequence strikes Ubisoft Mainz. Historically known as Related Designs, Mainz is the undisputed creative fortress behind the iconic Anno city-building and strategy simulation franchise. Following the massive critical and commercial milestone of Anno 1800, which surpassed 3.5 million players worldwide across PC and current-gen consoles, the studio is actively deep in production on Anno 117: Pax Romana, one of the publisher's few universally anticipated PC catalog assets.
Works Council Consultations and the 200 Million Euro Mandate
Strict German labor legislation requires Ubisoft executives to negotiate exit terms with local works councils (Betriebsrat) to define voluntary buyout packages and severance compensation. Total departures will ultimately depend on how many veteran employees choose to accept the offered buyout terms during ongoing rounds of negotiations.
This initiative feeds into CEO Yves Guillemot's sweeping 200 million euro cost-reduction mandate. It lands just days after the closure of RedLynx in Helsinki and layoffs in Singapore, amid an increasingly tense corporate climate driven by the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows and underperforming live-service investments across the wider organization.
My Take
I find this move deeply concerning, and it illustrates a management team that has completely lost its sense of direction. While Ubisoft is navigating brutal financial headwinds after recent commercial misfires and falling stock valuations, gutting its German studios is sheer nonsense. The Anno series and the craftsmanship at Mainz remain one of the publisher's absolute finest assets, widely praised by PC tacticians. Jeopardizing the creators of Anno 117 in the middle of active production is an alarming sign of a cornered leadership cutting blindly into muscle without the slightest strategic vision.
SEO consultant for over 20 years and digital entrepreneur, Charles 'Grimtag' Ronchain is the founder of Pro-Gamer.gg, Retrocharting.com, and Gamescharting.com. A competitive gamer, streamer, and retro game collector, he has worked in the video game industry for over 15 years, notably as a consultant for leading game price comparison platforms. Passionate about real-time performance data and gaming technology, he analyzes competitive esports, gaming hardware benchmarks, and creator workflows on Pro-Gamer.gg with an authentic player perspective.
