Ubisoft is currently in a crisis – some games like the critically acclaimed Mario + Rabbits: Sparks of Hope for the Switch did not live up to expectations, in fact they flopped. Other games were abandoned in the middle of development or, like Skull and Bones, postponed again. The CEO Yves Guillemot then emailed the employees and also used the phrase “the ball is in your court” – in addition to a few other demands and a tone that was perceived as harsh, this was what caused most of all this idiom in the employees for trouble.
The ball of kick-off
The wording that the ball is now in the employee’s field was interpreted in the same way as it can also be understood when reading it, namely in the sense of “it’s up to you now”. Because Guillemot seems to deny any responsibility on the part of the management and only to mark the employees from the development area as those who should bring Ubisoft back on the road to success. This, but also the interpretation of the CEO’s statements that he was demanding overtime, caused such a stir that even a union called on Ubisoft employees to go on strike.
Guillemot talks his way out – not everyone is mollified
That Portal IGN now reportsthat Yves Guillemot is said to have apologized for the wording at an internal question-and-answer conference. Included IGN also refers to a report by Kotaku. Guillemot says the phrase “the ball is on your court” meant that he wanted to make employees aware of how urgently Ubisoft now needs the energy and skills of employees to get the company back on track financially. So, if you believe him, it should be more of a kind of reinforcement of how much the management needs the employees. In the end, of course, it is also a joint journey that you will take on.
However, during the hour-long question-and-answer session, some developers reportedly expressed their feeling that management had lost touch with lower-level employees. It remains to be seen whether the mood at Ubisoft will have a negative effect and we can only hope for the approximately 20,000 employees worldwide that future workhorses such as Skull and Bones or the announced Assassin’s Creed: Mirage will bring success again.
