Halifax shutdown by Ubisoft: What future for Rainbow Six Mobile and AC Jade?

The year 2026 is off to a very bad start for the employees of Halifax, the studio specialising in the development of Ubisoft's free-to-play mobile games. Yves Guillemot's company has announced the closure of its Canadian studio as part of its massive restructuring (by which it means a large-scale layoff plan). And this at a time when the release of Rainbow Six Mobile is scheduled for next February, and Assassin's Creed Jade seems to be in the vegetative phase.

Why is Ubisoft closing Halifax?

Ubisoft's closure of Halifax comes just days after the studio's North American subsidiary unionised with the Game & Media Workers Guild of Canada. But rest assured, Ubisoft's decision had been taken well before this event. VGC and Games Industry were able to discover this in an e-mail from Ubisoft management.

The closure of Halifax is part of Ubisoft's never-ending restructuring, which began two years ago and has led to the closure of several studios: San Francisco, Osaka and Leamington. A further 71 employees have been made redundant as a result of this announcement.

As a reminder, Ubisoft has set up Vantage Studios, a "creative house" partly owned by Tencent, which will be responsible for the Rainbow Six and Assassin's Creed licences.

Rainbow Six Mobile: increasingly chaotic development?

This news does not bode well for Rainbow Six Mobile. The FPS is currently undergoing a soft launch in France, Canada, Poland and Latin America, with a global release date of 23 February. If you remember, the mobile shooter has suffered successive postponements, 4 years after its announcement in 2022.

It was Halifax who worked on the development, and in particular on R6M support. Should we expect a postponement of its release? Will development be transferred to Ubisoft Montreal?

Assassin's Creed Jade: In the hands of Tencent (Level Infinite)

Could Ubisoft's closure of Halifax also have an impact on AC Jade? The Canadian studio was also working on the title, and was also behind Assassin's Creed Rebelion.

We can assume that Jade, the new opus in the licence, will not suffer the consequences of these redundancies, as the game is co-developed by Level Infinite, a branch of Tencent. What's more, the media outlet Comicbook recently revealed that the game was still in production, according to a message from a developer on Ubisoft's Discord server.

All in all, very bad news for the 71 employees in Halifax, who are starting 2026 in the worst possible conditions. We'll be sure to keep you posted if Rainbow Six Mobile moves its release date.