Former Ubisoft Halifax workers looking for answers after studio shut down

Ubisoft Halifax closed its doors earlier this week, putting dozens of people out of work.

More than four years ago, Jon Huffman moved to Nova Scotia to work as a lead programmer with Ubisoft Halifax. As someone who grew up playing Ubisoft video games, he seized the opportunity to work with one of the biggest companies in the industry.

On Wednesday, his time at the studio came to an abrupt end when Ubisoft announced it was shutting down the Halifax location. The move came just a few weeks after 61 of the 71 employees at the studio joined CWA Canada Local 30111, becoming the first Ubisoft union in North America.

“It was a town hall setting,” Huffman said. “It was obvious that it was a surprise to everybody. It was a surprise to our leadership team.

“There was a lot of sadness, but it was surprising how quickly there was a bit of laughter. Within an hour people were joking with each other. It was something coming to a close.”

Ubisoft – a Paris-based company known for major video game franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six – said it was closing the studio as part of an ongoing two-year process to “streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs” across the company.

Since 2018, Ubisoft’s stock price in Paris has dropped from more than 100 euros to 6.10 euros.

“We are committed to supporting all impacted team members during this transition with resources, including comprehensive severance packages and additional career assistance,” the company said in a written statement.

In a follow-up email, Ubisoft – which has seven remaining studios in Canada – confirmed none of the 71 members of the Halifax studio will be moved to other teams. Huffman said the union plans to talk to the company about that decision.

“There are currently job openings in Canada that we have qualified members for,” he said. “It’s not an odd thing for a company the size of Ubisoft to pay to relocate members. They paid to relocate me to Halifax.

“Ubisoft proudly states their games are made in collaboration with studios around the world. We do have to ask the question: why not reassign the Halifax team to other teams? We’re here, we’re talented, why can’t we get to making games?”

CWA Canada said it will “pursue every legal recourse” to protect its union members at Ubisoft Halifax, as well as determine the reasoning for the closure.

“We will be looking for Ubisoft to show us that this had nothing to do with the employees joining a union,” said CWA Canada president Carmel Smyth in a news release. “The workers, their families, the people of Nova Scotia, and all of us who love video games made in Canada, deserve nothing less.”

In an email, Ubisoft said it’s decision to shut down the studio was not connected to the unionization process.

“The closure is linked to Ubisoft’s need for restructuring and cost-optimization, which began two years ago, well before the unionization process started at the studio in June 2025,” the company said. “Ubisoft fully respects employees’ right to unionize and has unionized teams globally.”

Workers at the studio expressed their interest in forming a union last June and held a vote later that month, but it wasn’t counted until December. Huffman said 73.8 per cent of employees were in favour of unionizing.

The Halifax studio, which formed in 2010, joined Ubisoft in 2015. It focused on mobile free-to-play games like Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and Rainbow Six Mobile.

Ubisoft said live operations for Assassin’s Creed Rebellion will end and no new content for the game will be produced.

With the closure of Ubisoft Halifax, Huffman said options for game development in Nova Scotia have dried up. In 2024, Alpha Dog Games, a Microsoft-owned company based in Halifax, closed its doors, which Huffman said got his team started down the path to unionization.

“I love making video games,” he said. “I’ve questioned myself on it many times, but every time I’ve decided I wanted to say. The game industry collectively is moving to unionization but it’s a slow process.

“In Nova Scotia we have a very dedicated game development community. It’s small but dedicated. We have students at NSCC or Dalhousie participating in game jams and starting their own projects. They’re all small initiatives.”

-With files from The Canadian Press

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