Ubisoft Layoffs Close RedLynx, Cut 70 Skull and Bones Jobs

Ubisoft is cutting again. And this time, an entire studio is going with it.

The publisher is looking to eliminate more than 100 jobs in its latest round of cuts. It plans to shut down RedLynx completely and trim the team at Ubisoft Singapore, the studio behind the multiplayer pirate game Skull and Bones. Ubisoft says the move is part of the ongoing reshaping of the company around its Creative Houses model. That restructuring has been working its way through the studios under Ubisoft's umbrella, and job losses are following it.

The End of RedLynx

If you know RedLynx, you probably know it for Trials. The series turned side-scrolling motorbike runs into a test of patience, with players nursing a bike over increasingly ridiculous obstacle courses and failing, often, before they finally nailed a clean run. It was a very specific kind of game, and it built a very loyal audience.

Ubisoft bought the Finnish studio in 2011. Fifteen years later, it is closing the doors, and 52 people are set to lose their jobs.

There is a caveat, at least on paper. According to Ubisoft's statement, the closure is "subject to the local change negotiation process." That refers to the formal consultation Finnish employers have to go through with staff before redundancies are finalized. In practice, it means the closure is not technically done until that process has run its course. Still, the direction is clear.

Skull and Bones Takes a Hit Too

The second half of the announcement lands in Singapore. Ubisoft confirmed that 70 jobs are being cut at Ubisoft Singapore, again as part of aligning the company with the Creative Houses structure.

The company was careful not to make this sound like the beginning of the end for the studio. "The studio remains an important part of Ubisoft's global production organization," the statement reads. It also added: "We deeply value the contributions of both teams and recognize the impact this may have on our colleagues."

That is the corporate language you would expect. But 70 roles is a substantial cut for any team, and it lands on the studio that is responsible for keeping a live multiplayer game going.

So what is happening in Skull and Bones itself right now? Not a great deal, at least on the surface. Year 3 Season 2 has been running since August. The most recent patch was mostly about squashing bugs and kicking off a handful of in-game events. Nothing in Ubisoft's statement says the game's roadmap is changing. But nothing in it promises that the roadmap is safe, either.

Not an Isolated Case

Ubisoft is far from the only company making painful decisions this year. Just this week, Funcom cut staff and lost its CEO while narrowing its attention to Conan and Dune. And elsewhere, Epic has pushed back its Marvel and Star Wars shooter as part of a broader shift in how it works. Different companies, different reasons, same general picture: publishers are reorganizing, and the people building games are paying for it.

Our Take

For players, the RedLynx news is the sadder one, even if it is less surprising. Trials was a beloved niche series, and the studio's closure suggests Ubisoft no longer sees a place for that kind of game inside its new structure. It is hard to read it any other way.

The Singapore cuts matter more for anyone still sailing in Skull and Bones. A live service game depends on a steady stream of content, and a smaller team usually means a slower one. The fact that the latest patch focused on bug fixes and events rather than bigger additions is not proof of anything, but it is worth keeping an eye on how Year 3 Season 2 wraps up and what, if anything, Ubisoft announces after it.

The bigger question is how far the Creative Houses restructuring still has to go. This is described as a "latest round," which implies there were earlier ones and leaves the door open for more. It is worth watching whether other Ubisoft studios get pulled into the same process in the months ahead, and whether the company ever lays out clearly which games and teams it actually plans to protect.