Ubisoft has been constantly in the headlines for the past few years, and rarely for positive reasons. It's no secret that the French giant is struggling, with the company's share price down more than 95 percent over the past five years.
The latest controversy facing the studio involves a now-former employee named David Michaud-Cromp, a veteran game designer and team leader at Ubisoft Montreal. Over a week ago, Ubisoft Montreal ordered every employee to return to the office five days a week, essentially ending the remote and/or hybrid work policy.
Ubisoft fires veteran team leader
Michaud-Cromp publicly criticized the decision, expressing his belief that having everyone present in a physical space does not promote collaboration or creativity. Michaud-Cromp argues in the video that corporations want full-time employees in office space to create the illusion of productivity and justify leasing commercial real estate. After the video, Michaud-Cromp was suspended by Ubisoft without pay for three days.
“I have been notified by Ubisoft of a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension effective tomorrow. The measure was presented to me as related to public comments I made regarding the company's return-to-the-office policy and based on an alleged breach of duty of loyalty,” Michaud-Cromp wrote on LinkedIn.
Almost a week later, Michaud-Cromp was terminated from his role at Ubisoft.
“I was terminated today by Ubisoft, effective immediately. It was not my decision. I will not discuss internal details or circumstances. I will take time to regroup and share next steps when appropriate,” Michaud-Crompa's LinkedIn post reads.
According to a report from Insider Gaming, Michaud-Cromp was even more critical of the company's decisions in messages on Ubisoft's internal communications software Agora.
The report claims that Michaud-Cromp expressed his displeasure with Ubisoft's decision to invest heavily in live-service games, which he believes has repeatedly hurt the company. Michaud-Cromp also reportedly criticized the decision to place Charlie Guillemot, son of Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot, at the helm of Vantage Studios, Ubisoft's new subsidiary dedicated to Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six.
Michaud-Cromp points out that Charile Guillemot has only worked at Unagi Games, “a next generation web3 entertainment company”, and has no other game development experience.
Part-owned by Tencent, Vantage Studios was launched by Ubisoft last year as a way to manage the company's biggest franchises. The subsidiary has over 2,300 employees and is valued at approximately $4.3 billion.
According to the report, Michaud-Cromp believes the problem at Ubisoft is management who are “still swimming in millions of dollars” while making bad decisions, and the layoffs should start at the top, not the bottom.
- Date of establishment
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March 28, 1986
- CEO
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Yves Guillemot
- Subsidiaries
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Massive Entertainment, Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Quebec, Ubisoft San Francisco
- Headquarters
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Saint Mande, France
