Following the release of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, an undertaking by a bunch of Ubisoft studios based all over the world, union protests at one of said studios have kicked off over plans to lay off staff now the remake’s out of the door. Ubisoft Barcelona, the studio in question, were reported last month to be set for a restructure that’d see them focus solely on Rainbow Six games going forwards.

With the studio’s work on Black Flag Resynced now finished, Ubisoft appear to have kicked those plans into motion, with 51 Ubisoft Barcelona devs facing layoffs according to the Spanish Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego (CSVI) union. In protest, the union have organised a three-day strike running from July 14th through to July 16th.

According to VGC, as part of the strike, the Ubisoft Barcelona devs are seeking four outcomes. Ubisoft cancelling the proposed 51 layoffs, stronger job security guarantees to prevent future mass layoffs being put in place, a return to a policy that allows up to 60% remote working, plus promotions and pay rises the devs claim they were previously promised.

Outside of the strike, a couple of Ubisoft Barcelona devs have taken to social media to express thoroughly understandable frustration at the situation. Tech and gameplay animator Manel Cota wrote in a post on social media that Ubisoft Barcelona were responsible for Black Flag Resynced’s underwater shipwreck exploration sections, adding “that same team is being fired right now because Ubisoft thinks that’s what we deserve”.

Meanwhile, QA/QC lead Isabel Codina García wrote on LinkedIn that “after 7 years at Ubisoft Barcelona, this is not how [she] imagined it would end”. “Two weeks before launch, the whole AC team at Ubisoft Barcelona was informed of a collective redundancy plan (ERE),” she added. “Vantage Studios has stated there will not be further mandates for the Barcelona studio, despite the team proposing new AC projects.” García echoed that 51 devs are set to be let go by the end of July.

Solidarity to all the Ubisoft Barcelona devs affected by these layoffs and to those taking part in the strikes.