No more playing at Ubisoft: employees are mobilizing for a three-day strike, the second this year, while the French video game giant is going through a difficult time with sales at half mast and the postponement of a major game, against the background rumors of a takeover of the company.
In front of the entrance to its Montpellier studio, around fifty employees held a strike picket Tuesday morning, improvising a pancake stand under the flags of the Video Game Workers’ Union (STJV).
The group’s announcement in mid-September to impose at least three days of presence in the office per week “was the straw that broke the camel’s back”explained to AFP Clément Montigny, STJV delegate at Ubisoft Montpellier.
In an email sent to its employees, management justified this decision by stating that “creativity is stimulated by interpersonal interactions, informal conversations and collaboration around the same table” – while promising not to return “to a 100% face-to-face model”.
“Choice of life”
“People were hired on the promise of three days of teleworking”argues Clément Montigny, “and it calls into question the entire organization of their lives. Potentially, these people must consider leaving the company, which is unacceptable”.
“Teleworking is a lifestyle choice”explains Xavier Langlois, programmer at Ubisoft for 18 years, who chose to move away from Montpellier “for financial reasons”.
For its part, the company says it is examining “how to refine (your model) to better balance the benefits of remote and in-office work”after a first meeting with the unions last Tuesday.
“Those who need it will have time to adapt to this change and our local team leaders will determine when exceptions are warranted”provides leadership.
Other strike pickets are expected during the day in front of the game publisher’s various studios in France, notably in Paris, Lyon, and Annecy.
The unions also ask management “a real salary effort”recalling that a first major strike had mobilized more than 700 employees in February out of the 4,000 that the company has in France – one of the largest mobilizations in the sector.
“We have not received a response from management”lamented Pierre-Etienne Marx, STVJ delegate at Ubisoft Paris. “We will increase (the pressure) until there are real concessions”he added, hoping this time to reach a thousand strikers.
“Not the expected success”
This strike comes at a bad time for the French flagship of video games, which has had a series of disappointments for several months.
“Ubisoft is suffering from a series of (game) releases that are not achieving the expected success”according to Oscar Lemaire, of the specialized site Ludostrie, citing in particular « Skull and Bones » and the new episode of « Prince of Persia ».
At the end of September, its CEO, Yves Guillemot, also admitted that the first sales of « Star Wars Outlaws »released at the end of August, were “weaker than expected”forcing Ubisoft to lower its financial objectives and postpone the release of the next part of its flagship series by three months, « Assassin’s Creed »to give its teams time to refine it.
A bad patch punished on the financial markets: Ubisoft shares have collapsed by more than 40% since the start of the year, reaching their lowest level in 10 years in September.
At the beginning of October, the Bloomberg agency also reported a potential share buyback by the Chinese tech giant Tencent, which already owns nearly 10% of the company, and the Guillemot family, the group’s main shareholder, to take the group out of the Stock Exchange.
