We, the employees of Ubisoft, were all caught off guard by the recent announcements on the hybrid working model. Updates done apparently after “useful insights and feedback on how to implement hybrid work in the best way for us.”
Since no one seems to remember providing info or feedback that could generate such insights, it’s only fair we also share our perspective on this news.
Before being Ubisoft employees, we were all gamers. Fans of our industry, who love to do what we do. We are proud to be part of a company that is so connected to gaming history, with titles that will forever live in many people’s hearts. We are talking about games that could not be created without the skills and effort of every single person we have onboard. Including you, who lead and show us the direction we should all follow.
We truly believe that our expertise and your vision are a great combination to produce even more captivating and memorable experiences for our players. But for that to happen, two things are required: mutual trust and respect.
Unfortunately, the newly announced hybrid work policy lacks both. We would like to pinpoint why.
We all know that.
We know that every time we create a new game, standardized settings are not the way to go if we want to truly deliver a pleasant experience to our players, so we allow for customization. As granular as possible. Why would it be different when it comes to dealing with us?
We are more than 40 studios from all over the world, and every single one has its context. Among other things, salaries are different, benefits are different, so why are we unifying this exclusive topic?
Going to the office 3 times a week in Singapore is very different than doing so in Saguenay, where winter is brutal. There is no way to compare these situations objectively.
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Assassin’s Creed without a hidden blade is not Assassin's Creed. We are well aware that once we give players a given condition that is appreciated, they will hardly let it go if we suddenly remove it from a game.
In the same way, giving employees rights that improve quality of life and well-being and then taking them back is not a good policy and will always generate backlash and revolt.
Another thing that doesn’t fit that new narrative is how we talk a lot about carbon footprint, but it doesn’t matter that this decision goes in the complete opposite direction of everything we discussed as action points.
We are a creative company, and this is being used as an argument for everyone to return to the office in a rigid format masked as flexible. But haven’t we all been through this conversation before? Haven’t we all been through a pandemic, and still we adapted, succeeded and survived?
There are definitely benefits to in-person collaboration. But this is not something we need every week. Sometimes not even every month. For sure, not every day.