The Ubisoft Leamington Spa studio has officially shut its doors for good. Ubisoft confirmed back in January that the studio would be closing down, and that day has finally come. The Leamington Spa team, originally founded as FreeStyleGames in 2002, was the oldest game studio still operating in the area and one of the oldest game studios based in Leamington. It has a long and storied history, beginning as an independent team before being acquired by Activision in 2008.
Under Activision, FreeStyleGames led the development of several notable titles, including DJ Hero, DJ Hero 2, and Guitar Hero Live. The studio's journey continued when Ubisoft acquired it in 2017. From that point on, the Leamington Spa team primarily provided support on major Ubisoft titles and franchises, ranging from Tom Clancy games to the Far Cry series and even the recently released Assassin's Creed Shadows.
The studio announced its final day with a heartfelt post on its official LinkedIn page, which will soon be merged with the Ubisoft Reflections page. In the post, they expressed their gratitude, stating, "After many incredible years, we want 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 created, the memories we've shared, and the community we've built in Leamington."
The post also mentioned that anyone local to Leamington will "still see our remaining team around town, and at local industry events," indicating that a small number of people will continue working for Ubisoft remotely in Leamington, even though they will no longer be sharing the historic building where numerous talented developers have passed through over the last two decades.
The studio's closure has resulted in 100 developers losing their jobs. Reports suggest that the Leamington team was working on an unannounced IP before being shut down. This could have potentially been the first title that the team would have led the development on rather than providing support as they had done on Ubisoft titles since 2017. The loss of this studio and its talented developers is undoubtedly a blow to the gaming industry and the local community in Leamington Spa.
Under Activision, FreeStyleGames led the development of several notable titles, including DJ Hero, DJ Hero 2, and Guitar Hero Live. The studio's journey continued when Ubisoft acquired it in 2017. From that point on, the Leamington Spa team primarily provided support on major Ubisoft titles and franchises, ranging from Tom Clancy games to the Far Cry series and even the recently released Assassin's Creed Shadows.
The studio announced its final day with a heartfelt post on its official LinkedIn page, which will soon be merged with the Ubisoft Reflections page. In the post, they expressed their gratitude, stating, "After many incredible years, we want 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 created, the memories we've shared, and the community we've built in Leamington."
The post also mentioned that anyone local to Leamington will "still see our remaining team around town, and at local industry events," indicating that a small number of people will continue working for Ubisoft remotely in Leamington, even though they will no longer be sharing the historic building where numerous talented developers have passed through over the last two decades.
The studio's closure has resulted in 100 developers losing their jobs. Reports suggest that the Leamington team was working on an unannounced IP before being shut down. This could have potentially been the first title that the team would have led the development on rather than providing support as they had done on Ubisoft titles since 2017. The loss of this studio and its talented developers is undoubtedly a blow to the gaming industry and the local community in Leamington Spa.
