We’re only two weeks into 2026, but the new year hasn’t been kind to Ubisoft employees. Right after the closure of Ubisoft Halifax and layoffs at Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm, roles are reportedly being cut at Ubisoft Abu Dhabi too.
Game industry news and analysis site Game Developer shared on 14th January several employees at the studio were posting on LinkedIn about cuts happening as far back as December 2025. A bit of digging reveals similar posts by more ex-employees, with the latest appearing on the site earlier this week. The full impact of the layoffs at the studio is unclear, but it seems it’s not being shut down.
Ubisoft Abu Dhabi was opened in 2011 and “serves as Ubisoft’s Regional Hub for games development.” The studio has worked on mobile games such as CSI: Hidden Crimes (pictured above) and the big free-to-play sandbox MMO Growtopia.
The new wave of layoffs arrived shortly after Ubisoft and Tencent formed the subsidiary Vantage Studios to house the Assassin’s Creed, Rainbow Six, and Far Cry franchises. It is widely assumed those are the safest Ubisoft properties moving forward, which explains why studios not directly involved with them are currently being hit the hardest.
Ubisoft’s 2026 release schedule has yet to be defined even if we know new triple-A heavy hitters are in development as we speak. For now, we’re expecting the Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remakes to help boost those numbers, and we heard of a surprise “definitive edition” of the first Division game earlier this week too.
