Ubisoft Employees are planning to strike in response to recent cost-cutting efforts affecting the company's Barcelona branch, which has already been announced until the end of 2026. The protest is scheduled to last several days, though it was structured to avoid a complete shutdown of the Ubisoft subsidiary's operations.
Ubisoft's latest restructuring has already affected several teams across its global network. In early June, the company confirmed additional downsizing, including the closure of Ubisoft Belgrade and Winnipeg, as well as a significant restructuring of its Barcelona branch. The Spanish studio is now being centered around There is a rainbow Franchise instead of previous scope of support work.
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Ubisoft Barcelona workers are planning several strike days
Faced with recent cuts, Ubisoft Barcelona employees now plan to strike on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons between June 30 and July 16, making six partial work stoppages in just three weeks. The strike is a direct response to the early June 2026 restructuring that resulted in 51 Ubisoft Barcelona employees losing their jobs. That's roughly equivalent to 28% of the studio's pre-downsizing workforce. The recently announced strike is a union affair, and not the first of its kind in 2026. In mid-February Ubisoft employees organized a more extensive three-day strike, stemming from the coordinated efforts of five French unions.
Ubisoft Barcelona Strike Demand
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New studio mandate bonds protecting 51 employees affected by latest downsizing
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Five year guarantee against future mass laying
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Immediate implementation of previously approved internal promotions
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Return to a 60% monthly work-to-home ratio
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Review of salary reform scheme and social benefits
The strike calls for stronger job security and improved working conditions. Employees are seeking a binding new contract that would protect the 51 affected roles, establish a five-year safeguard against future mass layoffs, immediately implement previously agreed promotions, restore work-from-home flexibility to 60% of each month, and reopen negotiations on pay improvements and social benefits. It remains unclear whether the summer strike at Ubisoft has a viable chance of achieving its goals. However, as the work is currently on a partial stoppage through the first half of July 2026, the union organizing the strike appears to have reserved the option of a wider shutdown if the management does not address its demands.
Demands related to the work-from-home model are older than the rest of the argument for the upcoming strike. Ubisoft has already faced labor tensions over its back-to-office policies, with unions representing its Barcelona developers previously suing the company's RTO mandate in November 2024. No public resolution of that issue 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 toward greater stability. The company recently deepened its focus on major franchises through Tencent-backed Vantage Studios, while reorganizing its remaining subsidiaries into largely genre-focused “creative houses,” announced in late 2025 and early 2026. Subsequent strikes indicate that workers are turning against the leadership in what they see as a strategy to push back the leadership. It's the only path to sustainability for embattled developer-publishers. According to recent management announcements, Ubisoft studio closures will continue through early 2029, though not necessarily at a consistent pace.
