“We want them to be the best in the world, in every segment we’re in” – Ubisoft’s vision for its new Creative Houses

Today Ubisoft confirmed the details of the Creative Houses structure it announced last year, but paired it with six game cancellations, seven game delays, and confirmation that Ubisoft Stockholm will be shuttered. Further cuts are coming, with CEO Yves Guillemot warning of future studio closures amid a plan to cut €200 million in costs over two years.

SVP of Studio Operations Marie-Sophie de Waubert told GamesIndustry.biz that the organisational changes to date had “resulted in improved game quality in 2025”, but “in a market that has become persistently more competitive, particularly across AAA titles and shooters, it’s necessary to go much further. When content quality reaches the highest standard, this market offers the potential for exceptional financial performance.”

Each Creative House will contain multiple studios and game brands, and will be responsible for a game’s development and marketing with full ownership of its P&L, meaning “decision-making will be faster and closer to the full game creation process,” said de Waubert. “Each Creative House will have end-to-end responsibility for their brand portfolios, both creatively and financially, combining production and publishing, including brand development and go-to-market strategy.”

“Each House will have dedicated studios. They will have their own distinct creative genre. They will have dedicated expert leadership accountable for its results and able to attract top talent, with incentives aligned with long-term value creation.”

The Creative Houses will be supported by a new Creative Network department comprised of internal studios offering “delivering best-in-class production and cross-functional creative expertise on a project by project basis”, including co-development, and will be directed by the Creative House. A second Core Services department will handle localisation, QA, analytics, game endings and business operations including media planning, marketing and communications, pricing and customer support.

All of this will be overseen by Ubisoft HQ, which will set strategic priorities, oversee talent management and corporate communication strategy, and handle legal and finance. “It’s clearly a reset of the company,” said de Waubert. “It will fundamentally reshape how we develop games with first, a clearly defined financial autonomy and accountability. Second, decentralized editorial and creative leadership within each Creative House. And third, integrated production and go-to-market teams, ensuring a unified gamer relationship.”

The company intends to have all staff return to working on-site five days a week, with each team member getting an annual allocation of work-from-home days. “We really want to strengthen onsite collaboration – the fluidity of changes, the collective dynamic across teams – and we know that in-person collaboration and interactions are key enablers of efficiency, creativity, and collective success in this persistently selective market. So it’s one enabler among others, but it’s really one we believe in.”

Ahead of the announcement, GamesIndustry.biz spoke to de Waubert and CFO Frederick Duguet in more detail about the changes and their expectations for the next two years.

Does the new phase of cost reduction mean we can expect an ongoing series of cuts and cost reductions?

Frederick Duguet: What we can say is that with this €200 million cost reduction, we will continue reducing external spending, reducing the real estate footprint. We will continue with a mix of strict control on recruitment, that comes with internal mobility being promoted, and continued restructuring. And we will continue to consider asset divestment in this process. That’s all we can say for now, but the new phase of cost reduction will be the last one, and that’s part of the reset.

It feels like there might be different Creative Houses dueling for central resources. Are you confident you have a structure in place to mitigate that?

Marie-Sophie de Waubert: Yes, we are. Each Creative House will have allocated resources, and they will have the means to define and to develop their roadmap. HQ will act as a global allocator in terms of capital and resource, and the Core Services and the Creative Network are really the two supportive structures to help the Creative Houses to make their games. They will complement the workforce of the creative houses with additional mandates, bringing high-level expertise and specific know-how. So yes, we are confident that with the mix of those structures, we have everything it takes to make great games.

“Collective dynamics, permanent knowledge sharing, solving problems together at a high velocity is critical in this world of AAA.”

Are you expecting the return to in-office working to drive additional staff reduction? That’s a divisive topic, and feels like an accelerant on staff turnover.

Marie-Sophie de Waubert: The one and only objective is to enhance collective efficiency, to drive the dynamics, the creativity, the sense of belonging.

It’s an intention. We will, of course, discuss in due time the modus operandi with the different countries, and the flexibility linked to that evolution of our model. But the objective is really linked to the quality of our games and the quality of our creativity. And it’s one enabler among others for the Creative Houses to reconnect with success and team engagement. It won’t happen overnight, of course, it’s an intention and we’ll do it properly in dialogue with all the stakeholders.

Frederick Duguet: As Maria Sophie said, we will of course discuss with the employees and their representatives and all the teams, but it’s really a matter of further boosting the collective performance for AAA. Collective dynamics, permanent knowledge sharing, solving problems together at a high velocity is critical in this world of AAA. That’s the purpose and the intention that we want to further share with the teams.

Are you expecting the leaders of the Creative Houses to come from within the organization or externally? Do you know the people who will be in those roles?

Marie-Sophie de Waubert: It will be a mix. We are currently in the process of recruiting the General Managers and the leadership team of each Creative House. So it’s underway, and the new organization will start operating early April, so we will announce the General Managers before then.

Frederick Duguet: Yes, it would be a mix of internal and external candidates. And because the Creative Houses are organized around specific creative genres, we really want to make sure we have the best talents that are relevant, expert, and specialized for each of them.

You’re marking down your financial performance for 2026. Are you expecting this to be a rough ride on the share price this year, and you’ll wait it out and believe in the long-term plan to turn that round?

Frederick Duguet: I won’t make any comment on the share price expectation. What I can repeat is that we want to focus on execution. It’s a major reset and we want to make sure that everything we’ve decided will allow the Creative Houses to succeed in their specific role. And we want them to be the best in the world in each and every segment we’re in.

“We will be also entering into a few additional segments. We still have four new IPs in development. But again, the market is super selective.”

We will be also entering into a few additional segments. We mentioned that we still have four new IPs in development. But again, the market is super selective. We are on a good path to return to very high quality games, as we’ve seen lately, but we need to go further and we are convinced that when we do it well, then the return on investment can be exceptional. But you need to be in the top two of each and every segment.

Ultimately this is going to be about Ubisoft producing fewer games, but higher quality?

Frederick Duguet: Indeed, we are reducing the number of products so that we have the best core teams for each and every project, in each and every genre. And so that requires us to be deep and narrow, and that’s the purpose of this reset.

With Vantage, you’ve taken external investment from Tencent. Are you seeking any additional investment in the other Creative Houses?

Frederick Duguet: Today we are focusing on execution, and it’s really important that we deliver that well, so I can’t make any comment on any potential further transactions.

There have been major staff cuts across the industry, well beyond Ubisoft, and that has raised questions about having people to deliver games in the medium term. Are you confident in your talent pipeline for 2027 and beyond?

“We are back to the lowest historical levels of staff attrition, especially for top talent. And that’s why we’ve seen product quality of the games lately improving.”

Frederick Duguet:You know, we had a high attrition level up to September 2022, and over the last three years, we’ve had a major reduction in attrition, especially at top level talents that is a key element of the foundation. Now we are back to the lowest historical levels of staff attrition, especially for top talent. And that’s why we’ve seen product quality of the games lately improving. That can’t happen overnight, but you’re right that it’s a key element and we’ve made great progress in that area. The market is still active, so we need to make sure we continue attracting and keeping the best talent.

Marie-Sophie de Waubert: Some talent came back, they rejoined Ubisoft after a while outside and they decided to jump back. I think they believe in the potential of what we do. So now we are confident it’s a competitive market for talent.