Ubisoft announced the closure of this studio back in January, but it took a while for the doors to actually close…
Ubisoft Leamington Spa is officially closed. This team was originally founded in 2002, but back then it was called FreeStyleGames. It was the oldest game studio still operating in the area, and one of the oldest game studios in Leamington to start as an independent studio. In 2008, they were acquired by Activision and under Bobby Kotick led the development of DJ Hero, DJ Hero 2 and Guitar Hero Live.
In 2017, the studio migrated to Ubisoft, where they primarily worked as a support team on the development of major titles and IPs for the French publisher. From Tom Clancy games to episodes of Far Cry and the recently released Assassin’s Creed Shadows, they’ve worked on a wide range of projects. But as you can read on their LinkedIn (before they merged theirs with Ubisoft’s Reflections site), they have reached Game Over…
“After many incredible years, we would like to share the news that Ubisoft Leamington has officially closed its doors. We are beyond grateful to our talented team whose creativity, passion and dedication have left a lasting mark on the games we’ve made, the memories we’ve shared and the community we’ve built in Leamington,” the post reads, adding that Leamington residents can still meet the remaining team around town and at local industry events, meaning there are still a handful of developers working remotely for Ubisoft from Leamington, just not in the historic building they all once shared and where many talented developers have called home over the past two decades.
With the closure of the studio, 100 developers have lost their jobs. It was rumored that Ubisoft Leamington Spa was working on an unannounced IP before the closure. This could have been the first project this studio would have been responsible for, so they wouldn’t have been in a supporting role after 7/8 years…
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