Two million copies in one day, then the team gets fired — this actually happened
On July 9, 2026, Ubisoft launched Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, a remake of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The numbers were insane: two million copies sold in the first 24 hours, over 3 million in the first week. The game broke the franchise's concurrent player record on Steam by nearly 40,000 players and scored the highest rating in the Assassin's Creed series in over a decade.
In that same week — just days after this stunning success — Ubisoft announced it was laying off 51 employees from Ubisoft Barcelona, roughly a third of the Barcelona office. Departure date: end of July.
Who got fired?
The layoffs weren't random. The Barcelona team developed the underwater exploration sections and all related technology in the game — a core component of Black Flag Resynced. They worked on this project for years and delivered a unique tropical experience.
Isabel Codina García, a QA lead who spent 7 years at the studio and 2.5 years on this specific project, said sadly:
"After 7 years at Ubisoft Barcelona, I never imagined it would end like this."
Mataoui Chakib Souleyman, a programmer in Paris who worked with the team, was more blunt:
"Without them, the game never would have made it to launch day."
The strike and rejected demands
The employees didn't take it quietly. The studio entered a strike represented by the union Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego (CSVI), which was also backed by Spain's General Confederation of Labor (CGT). The strike lasted until Thursday, July 16, 2026.
The strikers' demands were clear and fair:
- Cancel the proposed layoffs entirely
- Return to remote work policy at 60% as it was before
- Pay out promised promotions and raises they never received
- Stronger job guarantees and protection against arbitrary firing
Ubisoft didn't respond to any of these demands.
A hollow celebration and silent resentment
The Black Flag Resynced launch celebration at the studio itself shrank to a small gathering with minimal refreshments. No fanfare, no sense of accomplishment, no real recognition of the team's effort.
And worse: Vantage Studios (the responsible division at Ubisoft) announced there are no new projects assigned to Barcelona, despite the team submitting proposals for new Assassin's Creed projects. Translation: the doors are completely shut on them.
This isn't an isolated incident — this is the system
What happened in Barcelona isn't an exception. This pattern repeats constantly in the gaming industry: companies drain their teams' energy, ship the game across the finish line, then abandon them. Ubisoft itself has laid off thousands over the years.
The painful question: How many other teams at other studios are living this exact same moment right now, but their voices never reach us?
My take: Buying the game without social responsibility is naive
I'm not saying "don't buy Black Flag Resynced" — that's extreme and impractical. But I'm saying: be conscious. Those millions in sales went into the pockets of a company that doesn't see its employees as humans, just "production units."
Every Arab gamer who buys a game should ask themselves: Does this company deserve my money based on how it treats its staff? If the answer is no, why buy?
The right recommendation
I only recommend buying from Ubisoft if you're okay with the company's ethics. And if you're not, the choice is clear. But either way, if you do buy, know that part of your money went to a company that fired its team at the moment of its greatest success.
Most importantly: don't silence yourself. Share this story. Ask Ubisoft publicly: Why did you fire the Barcelona team? When will you rehire them? When will you respect your employees as people, not machines?
Because success without humanity isn't success. It's just numbers.
