Software company Ubisoft has closed its Halifax studio, putting 71 staff members out of work.

In a news release, the company, which employs 17,000 people globally, said the closure is a result of ongoing measures to make the company more efficient and cut costs.

“Over the past 24 months, Ubisoft has undertaken company-wide actions to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs,” the release said.

“We are committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance.”

A subsequent email from Antoine Leduc-Labelle, the head of public relations for the company, said Assassin’s Creed Rebellion, the video game the studio was working on, has seen a steady revenue decline since it was released in 2018.

In late December, 60 workers at the Halifax studio formed the company’s first union in North America.

In response to a question from CBC News, Leduc-Labelle said the restructuring exercise began “well before the start of the unionization process within the studio in June 2025.”

T.J. Gillis, a senior server developer who has worked at Ubisoft Halifax for five years, said staff were called into a meeting Wednesday morning and told that the industry wasn’t doing well and the studio was being shut down.

He said staff had decided to unionize in part because they had seen the industry trend of studios being shuttered.

Gillis said the timing of the closure is “awfully suspicious” and said members would be contacting union representatives to find out what support they can provide.

In a news release Wednesday afternoon, CWA Canada said it will be asking Ubisoft to explain its reasons for the sudden closure.

“We will be looking for Ubisoft to show us that this had nothing to do with the employees joining a union,” president Carmel Smyth said. 

Gillis noted with the Halifax studio closure, there are no more employment options for game developers in the province.

Microsoft closed its Alpha Dog studio in Halifax in 2024.

“This was my first serious foray into the gaming industry,” Gillis said.

“I’ve been working with these people for five years and some of these projects have been going on for years on end. It’s hard to see that work just disappear from us.”

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