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Guillemot told investors a similar issue with Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was one of the reasons the company is now forecasting major losses for the year. Despite a big marketing budget and critical acclaim, the game didn’t meet sales expectations coming out of the holiday. Neither did Just Dance 2023, the company’s only other major release last fall, a time of year that would normally have boasted another giant Assassin’s Creed blockbuster.

To deal with the losses, Ubisoft has now cancelled three more unannounced games in addition to the four that were previously cancelled last year. It’s also written off around $537 million of R&D costs associated with upcoming and cancelled games. And the company is planning to slice roughly $215 million in costs from its operating budget over the next two years. “This will be achieved through targeted restructuring, divesting some non-core assets and usual natural attrition,” the company told investors. “Ubisoft will continue to look at hiring highly talented people for its biggest brands and live services.”

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Three current and former Ubisoft developers, who wished to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak about company plans, recently told Kotaku that they are already seeing cuts by way of fewer backfills for recently departed colleagues and fewer contracts getting renewed for those working on a temporary basis. They also said there were layoffs across some of Ubisoft’s U.S. locations last fall, including its San Francisco office. A spokesperson for Ubisoft said only 27 positions were eliminated as part of this “restructuring.”

Next fiscal year, which runs through March 2024, Ubisoft said it plans to release at least one additional unannounced big game besides Skull and Bones, Avatar, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The CEO called it “the biggest pipeline in Ubisoft history” in his email to staff and said he’s excited to share more at this year’s E3 conference in June.

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But to do that it will need to avoid some of the pitfalls that have plagued current and upcoming projects even as it cuts spending. Guillemot laid responsibility for this at the feet of staff, writing, “The ball is in your court to deliver this line-up on time and at the expected level of quality, and show everyone what we are capable of achieving.”