Danny Weber
The remake drew nearly 100,000 concurrent Steam players and scored 84 on Metacritic, while Ubisoft Barcelona still faced layoffs.
Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the remake of the cult 2013 game, launched noticeably stronger than the recent Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Interest was already high during preorders, and after release the game attracted nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam. For comparison, Shadows peaked at about 64,000 users.
Critics also welcomed the remake. Black Flag Resynced has an average Metacritic score of 84, one of the series’ best results in recent years. The original Black Flag scored 88. Reviewers say it still feels like a solid pirate adventure in the West Indies, while the updated story missions, melee combat and naval battles naturally expand on the ideas of the Ubisoft Montreal original.
The successful launch did not save Ubisoft Barcelona employees. The studio, which also contributed to Black Flag Resynced, was hit by layoffs as the company dismissed 51 people. Employees announced a strike, but so far it appears not to have changed management’s decision.
This is already Ubisoft’s seventh round of cuts in 2026. Red Storm previously lost 105 employees and became a support studio, Ubisoft Toronto cut 40 jobs, and Ubisoft Halifax was closed. Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft Stockholm laid off a combined 55 people, Ubisoft Abu Dhabi cut another 29, and the Winnipeg and Belgrade units were also shut down.
Ubisoft has cut 731 jobs in 2026 so far. Against the backdrop of Black Flag Resynced’s strong launch, the situation looks especially painful: solid sales and high review scores no longer guarantee stability for the teams that helped create those projects.
Age rating: 18+.
© A. Krivonosov