{"id":54453,"date":"2026-05-30T17:46:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/?p=54453"},"modified":"2026-05-30T17:47:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T21:47:36","slug":"ubisoft-humiliated-by-warhorse-studios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/overcentral.com\/en\/ubisoft-humiliated-by-warhorse-studios\/","title":{"rendered":"Ubisoft Humiliated by Warhorse Studios: Why Indie Devs Are Winning in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2026, the gaming industry is witnessing a seismic power shift \u2014 and nowhere is that more evident than in the public humiliation of Ubisoft by Warhorse Studios<\/a>, the independent Czech developer behind\u00a0Kingdom Come: Deliverance<\/em>\u00a0and its highly anticipated sequel. After Ubisoft reported a catastrophic\u00a0\u20ac1.3 billion loss<\/strong>\u00a0and unveiled yet another aggressive cost-cutting program, Warhorse co-founder Daniel V\u00e1vra<\/a> took to Twitter with a viral takedown that exposed the staggering inefficiency of the French publishing giant. His message was brutally simple: Ubisoft currently employs\u00a016,600 people<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 enough to staff roughly\u00a070 Warhorse Studios<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0or develop ten\u00a0Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2<\/a><\/em>-sized games simultaneously, every single year. And yet, while Ubisoft continues to bleed money, cancel franchises, and close studios, smaller developers like Warhorse are delivering critically acclaimed, commercially successful titles that resonate deeply with players. V\u00e1vra’s willingness to publicly mock a former industry titan signals something profound \u2014 Ubisoft has lost not only the trust of its fans and investors but also the respect of its own peers. As indie and AA studios continue to outperform bloated AAA giants in quality, passion, and profitability, 2026 is shaping up to be the year the underdogs officially take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel V\u00e1vra’s Viral Tweet: What He Actually Said<\/h2>\n\n\n

On May 21, 2026, Daniel V\u00e1vra \u2014 co-founder of Warhorse Studios and the creative mind behind Kingdom Come: Deliverance<\/em> \u2014 shared a screenshot of a news headline announcing Ubisoft’s record \u20ac1.3 billion loss alongside the publisher’s latest cost-reduction program. His caption, dripping with calculated sarcasm, read:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Ubisoft has 16,600 employees after its most recent wave of layoffs. That would be equivalent to about 70 Warhorse Studios-sized teams. It could also be equivalent to 10 games the size of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, each developed for 7 years and released annually. The question is \u2014 should I buy their stock now that it’s cheaper?”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>blockquoteblockquoteblockquoteblockquoteblockquoteblockquote\n\n\n\n

He punctuated the post with a thinking emoji followed by a winking emoji \u2014 the digital equivalent of a mic drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tweet wasn’t just criticism. It was a mathematical indictment<\/strong> of Ubisoft’s inefficiency. V\u00e1vra wasn’t speculating or offering opinions; he was presenting cold, hard numbers that anyone could verify. And that’s precisely why it resonated so deeply across the gaming community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within 48 hours, the post had accumulated hundreds of thousands of likes, tens of thousands of retweets, and sparked heated debates across Reddit, YouTube, and gaming forums worldwide. Even journalists who typically avoid “drama” picked up the story, framing it as a symbolic turning point in the ongoing battle between bloated AAA publishers and lean, passionate indie\/AA studios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Numbers Behind the Humiliation: 16,600 vs. 70<\/h2>\n\n\n

Let’s break down V\u00e1vra’s comparison because the scale is genuinely staggering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metric<\/th>Ubisoft<\/th>Warhorse Studios<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Employees (approx.)<\/td>16,600<\/td>~250<\/td><\/tr>
Studios \/ Teams<\/td>~45 globally<\/td>1<\/td><\/tr>
Games per year (AAA\/AA)<\/td>3-4 on average<\/td>1 every 6-7 years<\/td><\/tr>
Recent hit success rate<\/td>Declining sharply<\/td>2 for 2 (KCD<\/em>, KCD2<\/em>)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>figurefigurefigurefigurefigurefigure\n\n\n\n

Do the math: 16,600 \u00f7 250 = 66.4<\/strong> \u2014 basically 70 Warhorse Studios under one roof.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now consider this from a productivity perspective<\/strong>. If Warhorse Studios can produce a critically acclaimed, commercially successful open-world RPG like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2<\/em> with roughly 250 developers over 6-7 years, then Ubisoft \u2014 with 70 times the workforce \u2014 should theoretically be able to produce 70 such games in the same timeframe<\/strong>. That’s ten games per year<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that’s not what’s happening. Instead, Ubisoft is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n