Enough Is Enough Ubisoft Worker Unions Call for 3 Day Strike Over Layoffs and Mandatory Return to Office
Ubisoft’s recently announced major reset is now colliding head on with organized labor, as multiple French unions representing Ubisoft workers have issued a strike call in response to layoffs, studio closures, and plans to roll back remote work under a mandatory return to office policy. The unions named in the call include Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du jeu Vidéo (STJV), Solidaires Informatique, CFE CGC, CGT, and Printemps écologique, and they are urging Ubisoft staff worldwide to participate.
The strike is planned as a 3 day action running on February 10, February 11, and February 12. In parallel, worker pressure is also building outside France. CWA Canada is set to hold a rally in Halifax on January 29, 2026, framing it as solidarity with workers impacted by the Halifax studio closure earlier this month.
The tone of the French unions’ statement is blunt and escalatory. It opens with “Enough is enough!” and targets Ubisoft leadership directly, arguing that decisions are being imposed without meaningful employee dialogue and without accountability at the top. A key flashpoint is the claim that Ubisoft is reversing a remote work policy arrangement that had been in place since September 2025, replacing it with a return to office approach that unions say undermines prior commitments. The unions also cite job cuts as evidence that the reset is being paid for by workers rather than by those who set the company’s strategy.
🇬🇧✊🌀 Ubisoft : enough is enough! Faced with the arbitrary decision of the CEO who doesn’t even dare talking to employees anymore, unions are calling for a strike on February 10th, 11th and 12th.
— Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (@stjv.fr) January 28, 2026 at 8:10 PM
[image or embed]
In their messaging, unions are also linking the present turmoil to long term governance concerns, including the argument that Ubisoft leadership decisions contributed to the company losing 95% of its value across the past 8 years. They specifically call out an alleged gap between leadership rhetoric about responsibility and leadership action, highlighting the elimination of 200 jobs at Ubisoft headquarters as a recent example of the reset’s impact.
This strike call follows additional pressure earlier this week when Solidaires Informatique criticized Ubisoft chief executive officer Yves Guillemot personally, arguing he lacks understanding of the company’s realities on the ground. That matters because it signals a coordinated posture: not just opposition to a single policy change, but a broader challenge to leadership legitimacy during a restructure.
Ubisoft’s reset has been framed as a structural overhaul, reorganizing the business into 5 Creative Houses and grouping surviving studios into those internal units. In the same period, Ubisoft has also been connected to studio shutdowns such as Halifax and Stockholm, plus continued restructuring impacts across teams. The broader fallout described by unions and community observers includes senior departures, internal disruption across major franchises, and the visible side effects that players care about most: project cancellations and long delays.
On the product side, the reset has already been associated with 6 project cancellations and 7 additional delays, reportedly including high profile franchise work. The friction point for many fans is that these moves are happening while Ubisoft continues to keep certain long running projects alive, creating the perception that priorities are being set inconsistently. In other words, players are watching a company tighten standards and reduce risk on some projects while still carrying very expensive bets elsewhere, and workers are being asked to absorb the cost through headcount reductions and work policy reversals.
In Canada, the Halifax closure remains a live issue. CWA Canada is applying pressure on the Nova Scotia government and the public to scrutinize how the closure unfolded, and it says this pressure has already pushed Ubisoft to reconsider the severance package offered to affected workers. The union has also launched a letter writing campaign and published a timeline explaining why it believes the closure deserves deeper review as the Nova Scotia Labour Board investigates.
If the February strike proceeds with strong participation, it becomes a material operational risk for Ubisoft at a moment when the company is trying to stabilize output, rebuild trust, and protect its release pipeline. It also creates a reputational multiplier: the gaming audience is already sensitive to delays and cancellations, and a labor conflict adds another layer of uncertainty that can impact recruiting, retention, and long term brand confidence. For a publisher that needs clean execution across multiple studios, the combination of forced return to office and high profile layoffs is a high risk move unless management can clearly demonstrate a credible recovery plan that employees can buy into.
Do you think Ubisoft can realistically rebuild trust with both workers and players at the same time, or will the reset keep creating new friction until leadership changes its approach?
