An Assassin’s Creed level designer has claimed that Ubisoft have put him on unpaid disciplinary leave for speaking out publicly against the company’s recently introduced requirement that staff return to the office full-time.
The level designer in question is David Michaud-Cromp, team lead for level design on Assassin’s Creed Shadows (which is cited on his LinkedIn with its older “Codename Red” working title). He started at Ubisoft Montreal in 2012, working on Assassin’s Creed Unity, and also has credits on the best-selling Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion.
The backstory: last week, Ubisoft announced that they were cancelling a load of games and laying off staff in the course of transforming themselves into the New Hotness with funding from Tencent. They also announced that they would no longer allow hybrid or remote working, with staff receiving a yearly allowance of work from home days, instead. An executive commented that “the one and only objective [for the new RTO policy] is to enhance collective efficiency, to drive the dynamics, the creativity, the sense of belonging.” Unionised Ubisoft developers were not convinced.
Michaud-Cromp offered his own thoughts on the RTO policy in a LinkedIn post from 23rd January. “Last week, So… Ubisoft wanna bring back 5 days in the office… because they “believe in collaboration”… but c’mon, we’re not completely stupid… we very well know why you want to go back to 5 days in the office…” he wrote.
The post includes a link to a Youtube video from Damon Cassidy, which argues that RTO policies are better understood as “a way to maintain oversight and reinforce traditional hierarchies”, while propping up office real estate prices.
According to Michaud-Cromp, Ubisoft haven’t reacted well to his taking a public stance on RTO, though I’m not sure which specific comments he’s referring to. In a LinkedIn post from yesterday, he writes that: “Ubisoft informed me today of a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension, effective Tomorrow.
“The measure was presented to me as being related to public comments I expressed regarding the company’s return-to-office policy, and based on an alleged breach of the duty of loyalty,” the post continues.
“I am sharing this information for transparency purposes. I take note of the decision and will make no further comment at this time.”
I’ve asked Ubisoft for a statement. I’ve seen a couple other Ubisoft developers speaking up about the RTO policy and wider cutbacks – in the circumstances, it’s probably best not to name them. In other news, Ubisoft are proposing up to 200 layoffs at Ubisoft Paris, even as unionised workers ready themselves for another strike.
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