Image Credit: gamecompanies.com

Ubisoft has announced the closure of its Halifax, Canada, development studio, impacting 71 employees just weeks after staff there successfully voted to unionize. The decision has sparked controversy across the gaming community as it came so soon after the Halifax team formed the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada in late December 2025, marking the company’s first North American union certification.

The Halifax studio had been in operation for over a decade, contributing to mobile games like Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and supporting projects such as Rainbow Six Mobile. Employees had celebrated the union victory earlier in the holiday season, with roughly 74 percent of staff voting in favor of unionizing under the Nova Scotia Labour Board’s certification.

Ubisoft officially attributed the closure to a broader company-wide restructuring and cost-cutting effort that began more than two years ago. In a statement, the publisher said the decision to close the studio was made “well before” employees voted to unionize and that it respects workers’ rights to organize. Ubisoft also pledged to provide severance packages and career transition assistance for those affected.

Despite this explanation, union representatives and local labor advocates have expressed deep concern. The Communications Workers of America (CWA) Canada stated it would “pursue every legal recourse” to defend the rights of the impacted workers, arguing that the timing of the closure raises serious questions that require transparent answers.

The Nova Scotia Federation of Labour also condemned the layoffs, calling on authorities to ensure that labor laws protecting workers’ right to organize are upheld. The organization stressed that layoffs so soon after a union certification could have a chilling effect on labor organizing within Canada’s tech industry.

Local employees described the closure as a “shock” and a “devastating” blow to a studio that was a central part of Halifax’s game development ecosystem for years. Many said they were proud of their work and hopeful that they would find new opportunities, but acknowledged that the job market in the region may struggle to absorb so many skilled developers at once.

This closure adds to an ongoing trend of restructuring and layoffs across major game studios, even as companies stress financial prudence and operational efficiency. Whether the unionization played any role in this decision remains a point of debate among industry observers and labor advocates.

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