Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, who wrote a somewhat unrealistic email last week, shouldn’t be surprised if there is a strike at the French publisher’s Paris studio next week.
We have recently reported that Ubisoft’s situation is dire and that it is primarily the company to blame. Especially if what insider Tom Henderson claims is true. He spoke to five current and former Ubisoft employees who explained the delays and cancellations because game testers felt the projects were not in the right state.
A bigger problem is that Ubisoft has latched onto the battle royale format (who remembers the FPS Hyper Scape that came out in August 2020 and then was canceled in April 2022?). Supposedly, at least a dozen (!!!) of these games were in development at any one time. At least 12?! But even if that’s not the case, the hybrid development model seems to have caused Ubisoft to struggle after the pandemic, which may bring back working from the office entirely by 2024.
Meanwhile, a French union, Solidaires Informatique, asks developers working at Ubisoft’s Paris studio to hold a half-day strike, citing inflation, wants a 10% pay rise and would like to see the union call for a four-day working week. It is also a reaction to Guillemot’s comments to investors (reducing operating costs “through targeted restructuring, divesting some non-core assets and usual natural attrition”).
“When Mr. Guillemot speaks of ‘attrition’ and ‘organizational adjustments,’ it means staff reductions, discreet studio closures, salary cuts, disguised layoffs, etc. Because Mr. Guillemot and his clique only understand the relationship of power, Solidaires Informatique is calling on the employees of Ubisoft Paris to go on strike on Friday, 27 January in the afternoon, from 2 to 6 pm,” wrote the union, which was also responding to a letter sent internally by Guillemot.
Solidaires Informatique also demands transparency on workforce developments and a commitment against constructive dismissals and “abusive management policies that push employees to resign.” Good luck with that.
![However, an anonymous GOG employee paints an even darker tone of the internal situation: „We were told it’s a financial decision. GOG’s revenue couldn’t keep up with growth, the fact that we’re dangerously close to being in the red has come up in the past few months, and the market’s move towards higher [developer] revenue shares have, or will, affect the bottom line as well.](https://thegeek.games/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/the-gog-1-302x180.jpg)
Leave a Reply