Ubisoft employees are planning a strike in response to recent cost-cutting efforts affecting the company's Barcelona branch, which they announced at the end of June 2026. The protest will take place over several days, although it is structured to avoid a complete shutdown of the Ubisoft subsidiary.
Ubisoft's latest restructuring has already affected several teams across its global network. In early June, the company confirmed further job cuts, including the closure of Ubisoft Belgrade and Winnipeg, as well as a major restructuring of its Barcelona office. The Spanish studio now centers around Rainbow Six franchise instead of his previous line of supporting work.
The co-founder of Ubisoft was killed in a plane crash
One of the co-founders of Ubisoft has died after his tourist plane suddenly crashed mid-flight in western France.
Ubisoft Barcelona employees are planning several strike days
Faced with recent cuts, Ubisoft Barcelona staff now intend to strike on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between June 30 and July 16, for a total of six partial stoppages over three weeks. The strike is a direct response to the restructuring at the beginning of June 2026, which saw 51 Ubisoft Barcelona employees lose their jobs. That's roughly the equivalent of 28% of the studio's workforce before the layoffs. The newly announced strike is a union issue and is not the first of its kind in 2026. A more comprehensive three-day strike was organized by Ubisoft employees already in mid-February, based on the coordinated efforts of five French unions.
Ubisoft Barcelona Strike demands
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Binding new studio mandate protecting 51 employees affected by latest downsizing
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Five-year guarantee against future mass redundancies
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Immediate execution of pre-agreed internal promotions
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Get back to the 60% monthly work from home ratio
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Revision of plans to improve salaries and social benefits
The strike calls for a focus on greater job security and better working conditions. Workers are seeking a binding new deal that would protect the 51 affected roles, create a five-year safeguard against future mass redundancies, immediately implement previously agreed promotions, restore the flexibility of working from home to 60% of each month and reopen negotiations on pay increases and benefits. It remains unclear whether the summer strike at Ubisoft has any real chance of achieving its goals. However, as the action currently amounts to a partial stoppage in the first half of July 2026, the unions organizing the strike are likely to retain the possibility of wider stoppages if management does not respond to its demands.
Demands related to the work-from-home model predate other reasons for the upcoming strike. Ubisoft has already faced labor tensions over back-to-the-office policies, with unions representing its Barcelona developers previously suing for an RTO mandate in November 2024. No public resolution of the case has been reported as of June 2026.
Looking at the bigger picture, the timing of the summer 2026 strike is notable as Ubisoft tries to present its ongoing restructuring as a path to greater stability. The company recently deepened its focus on major franchises through Tencent-backed Vantage Studios, while reorganizing its remaining subsidiaries into mostly genre-focused “creative houses” announced between late 2025 and early 2026. The subsequent strikes signal workers are now pushing back against what they see as the human cost of the strategy, though only developers say it's sustainability. According to recent management announcements, Ubisoft studio closures will continue until early 2029, though not necessarily at a consistent pace.
