Ubisoft Barcelona’s Black Flag Resynced victory came with a very different kind of aftermath

The studio laid off 51 employees on June 10 even as Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced was treated internally as a strong launch.

45 1 minute read

Ubisoft Barcelona’s work on Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced did not shield 51 employees from layoffs, even after the game was viewed as a success inside Ubisoft.

The cuts were announced on June 10, and people familiar with the situation said the timing felt fixed long before launch. Several of the affected staff had worked on the game, which only made the decision land harder inside the studio.

What stands out here is how familiar the pattern sounds. Ubisoft often moves teams onto their next assignment well before a project ends, sometimes a year ahead, but Barcelona employees said they had been warning since summer 2025 that no new project had been handed over. That left the team in a holding pattern that did not end well.

The wider fallout has also reached labor action. Workers at Ubisoft Barcelona are in a strike window organized through the Video Game Union Coordinating Committee, with walkouts set for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between June 30 and July 16. The game itself is also in solid shape on the reception side, with an 84 Metacritic score at publication. For readers tracking the rollout itself, the timing was already broken down in a separate launch timing breakdown.

Share your thoughts in the comments, and follow us on X, Bluesky, YouTube, Instagram.

The iconic solo pirate adventure returns with Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, launching on July 9, 2026. Sail the Caribbean as Edward Kenway during the Golden Age of Piracy in this faithfully enhanced remake featuring stunning visuals, upgraded gameplay, and new content.