A logo of Ubisoft is seen at its booth during the Gamescom video games trade fair at the Trade Fair Center in Cologne, western Germany. When deciding which video game to buy, Is it fun? is no longer the only consideration. Given the state of the industry, Do I want to support this company? is arguably more important. Take, for example, Ubisoft, where things seem to unravel more each day. After the floundering publisher floated even more layoffs this week, workers at its Paris headquarters said, Enough is enough.

Ubisoft, the video games publisher behind the Assassin's Creed series, has cancelled projects and announced a restructuring that will close several studios as a result of several years of weak results and disappointing sales. Ubisoft, the video games publisher behind the Assassin's Creed series, has cancelled projects and announced a restructuring that will close several studios as a result of several years of weak results and disappointing sales. The video game publisher behind the Assassin's Creed series has cancelled six projects including a remake of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as it fights to stay competitive in the global gaming market. Ubisoft announced a sweeping reorganisation and said it would cancel six games, sending its shares to their lowest level in more than a decade on Thursday. Ubisoft is abandoning development of six titles, including a highly anticipated remake of Prince of Persia - a series that dates back to 1989 and received an ill-fated Hollywood adaptation in 2010 - and delaying a further seven. Studios in Halifax, Canada and Stockholm are being closed, with restructuring to follow in other countries, it said.

Ubisoft has cancelled six video games - including its long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake - as part of a major reset of its operations. The French developer and publisher, known for popular games such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Just Dance, has closed two studios and delayed seven titles as part of its changes. Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot said the move would create the conditions for a return to sustainable growth. The firm's shares plunged by 33% on Thursday morning following the announcement. The move comes at a time when studios are increasingly turning to video game remakes and remasters, with new versions of Super Mario Galaxy, Oblivion and Metal Gear Solid 3 proving popular in 2025.

Ubisoft, one of the world's largest games developers, says it's working to fix an apparent hack on popular online shooter Rainbow Six Siege. Servers for the tactical multiplayer game were taken offline on Saturday and Sunday after in-game currency thought to be worth millions of pounds was distributed to players. The company has since restored service, but suspended the game's marketplace until further notice and warned players they may face queues when trying to log on. In a statement on X, Ubisoft said it would continue to make investigations and corrections over the next two weeks. Rainbow Six Siege, commonly referred to as R6, has been a success story for Ubisoft, which is also behind the Assassin's Creed and Far Cry series.

Ubisoft is continuing its efforts to course-correct after several challenging years. Today, the video game company announced that it will launch a subsidiary centered around three of its most familiar franchises: Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. The as-yet-unnamed subsidiary will fold in the teams working on those three series, including Ubisoft studios in Montréal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Barcelona and Sofia. This new business will receive an investment of 1.16 billion (roughly 1.25 billion) from its longstanding partner Tencent, granting the conglomerate a minority ownership stake. Following the transaction, Ubisoft will narrow focus to its other franchises, such as The Division and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.

Assassin's Creed Shadows may be shaping up to be the hit Ubisoft needed. On social media, the Assassin's Creed team announced that the game, which was released on Thursday, has so far drawn in two million players. Assassin's Creed Shadows was originally slated to come out last fall, but was delayed twice as developers worked to further polish the game and try to ensure everything would be running smoothly on day one. So far, (mostly) so good, it seems. Engadget's Kris Holt noted in his review this week that the game is for the most part running well on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC.

I have played many Assassin's Creed games over the years, but I've rarely loved them. Ubisoft's historical fiction is perennially almost-great. A lot of players would say it reached its peak in the late 2000s, with the trio of renaissance Italy games beginning with Assassin's Creed 2, and their charismatic hero, Ezio Auditore. Since then, the series has become bloated, offering hundreds of hours of repetitive open-world exploration and assassination in ancient Greece, Egypt and even Viking Britain. Odyssey (the Greek one) was the last I played seriously; I found the setting exquisite, the gameplay somewhat irritating and the scale completely overwhelming.

It's unlikely that the fate of a company as large as Ubisoft will hinge on the success of one tentpole single-player game. But the company cannot afford another major error anytime soon after the likes of Star Wars: Outlaws and XDefiant failed to set the world alight. Ubisoft desperately needs a big hit (and for the Rainbow Six Siege X overhaul to go well). The good news for the company is that Assassin's Creed Shadows is poised to deliver on that. On the surface, it's exactly what you'd expect: a massive Assassin's Creed game that takes dozens of hours to beat. There's so much to do beyond the core story, given all the missions and sidequests that the game constantly points you towards.

Japan, 1581: Iga province is burning down around you. You watch on, injured and helpless as the Oda Nobunaga - the warlord responsible for numerous civil wars and the eventual unification of the country - smirks from a nearby hill. You draw your katana, the blade shining in the flickering light of the flames. This is Assassin's Creed: Shadows – part exciting ninja game, part history lesson. It's an odd combination but it comes together in a sprawling historical-fiction adventure full of discovery and deception.

More than four years after its announcement and after two last-minute delays, the latest title in Ubisoft's historical fiction series Assassin's Creed will finally be released on Thursday. Set in Japan in 1579, a time of intense civil war dominated by the feudal lord Oda Nobunaga, it follows two characters navigating their way through the bloody chaos: a female shinobi named Fujibayashi Naoe, and Yasuke, an African slave turned samurai. Japan has been the series' most-requested setting for years, Ubisoft says. "I've been on [this] franchise for 16 years and I think every time we start a new game, Japan comes up and we ask, is this the time?" says executive producer Marc-Alexis Coté. "We've never pushed beyond the conception phase with Japan until this one." The game comes at a crucial time for Ubisoft after the disappointing performance of last year's titles Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and the expensive closure of live service shooter XDefiant.