In its latest worrying financial report, ubisoft he unequivocally clarified that he is not sailing in good waters. Company titles like Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope aren’t selling as well as hoped, Skull & Bones has once again been delayed, and behind-the-scenes looks like many projects have been cancelled.
The statements of the CEO Yves Guillemot, who relied on his employees to revive the fortunes of Ubisoft, prompted the developers of the Paris team to protest and organize a strike.
Specifically, Guillemot said the company is trying to cut expenses by 200 million euros in the next two years through “targeted restructuring and disposal of some non-core assets”. Guillemot admitted to employees that he needs theirs “full energy and commitment to ensure we get back on the road to success”before adding: “I also ask that each of you be particularly careful and strategic with your spending and initiatives, to ensure that we are efficient and sustainable”.
These words attracted the ire of the Solidaires Informatique trade unionwho called Guillemot’s comments “catastrophic” and accused the CEO of to plan “staff reductions, evaluate the closure of studiessalary cuts and disguised layoffs”.
“On several occasions, Mr. Guillemot is trying to pin the blame (once again) on the employees; he expects us to mobilize, to ‘do everything ourselves’, to be ‘as sustainable and lean as possible’.” “These words mean something: overtime, managerial pressure, running out of energy, etc. Mr Guillemot demands a lot from its employees, but without any compensation“.
The studio said Ubisoft’s salaries have failed to keep up with inflation, that the company hasn’t implemented a four-day work week, and that there are no protections for “exhausted” development teams after their their projects have been completed.
The union then makes four demands:
- An immediate 10% raise for all salaries, regardless of annual increases, to offset inflation. With the hundreds of millions of euros obtained by Tencent, there is money in the employers’ coffers.
- The improvement of working conditions: in particular, the implementation of the four-day week.
- Transparency on the evolution of the workforce, both locally and globally.
- A strong commitment against disguised dismissals and the condemnation of abusive managerial policies that push employees to resign.
The union then concluded: “And since Mr. Guillemot and his clique only understand power relations, Solidaires Informatique invites Ubisoft Paris employees to strike on Friday 27 January in the afternoon, from 2 to 6 pm”. The initiative will only involve the developers of Ubisoft Paris, who through the union had already protested in 2021 over cases of sexual abuse and investments, deemed expensive, useless or even harmful to NFTs.
