Hope this kind of content is allowed in this commnity !
For context: CGT is the main union in France, this is an AMA run by union members of the CGT Ubisoft branch, but there are also other unions calling for a strike (STJV, Solidaires Informatique, CFE-CGC Fieci, CGT, Printemps Ecologiques)
Hello everyone,
We are members of the CGT Ubisoft, and today, we are available to answer your questions until the end of the day.
We are here to discuss everything related to our union experience at Ubisoft, working conditions in the video game industry, and the reasons that led us to call for a strike on October 15.
Do not hesitate to ask your questions, whether it is about the role of the union, the current situation at Ubisoft, or our recent actions. We are here to discuss and provide transparent answers.
We will try to answer most of your questions. However, we may not be able to answer those considered confidential
You can also find us on Instagram to follow our news: https://www.instagram.com/cgtubisoft/
I will translate questions / answers in a comment chain below
Posting it as a separate comment because I feel like the most important info is in there:
Q:
What are the reasons for your call for a strike?
A:
On September 17, management announced that it wanted to impose 3 days of face-to-face work per week. Many of us have organized our lives around work from home, allowing us to reconcile our professional and personal lives, reduce our travel, manage a disability or be a caregiver. This method has also compensated for the overload due to the non-replacement of colleagues.
Despite this, no guarantee has been given regarding future negotiations, especially after the failure on profit-sharing, revealing a purely formal social dialogue and management focused on stock market indicators rather than employee commitment.
We are therefore calling on Ubisoft employees to strike on Tuesday, October 15 in the afternoon to defend the following:
- Work from home: preserving work-life balance and employment.
- Salary: catching up with inflation and salary scale.
- Social dialogue: real negotiations.
- Profit-sharing: a 13th month as compensation.
Ubisoft just really wants to be the shittiest company right now don’t they
Right now, there’s an executive battle to wrestle control of the company away from the original founders. While the founders are probably a bunch of rich assholes, they want to go back to being privately-traded with Tencent’s help, and the alternative is so much worse: venture capitalists in a publicly-traded stock market. They have been driving their IPs into the ground, due to overexposure (looking at you, Assassin’s Creed). No doubt this whole face-to-face decision was bought on by the capitalist assholes trying to sabotage the company and distract the public from what’s actually going on.
Q:
For the past few years, we’ve often seen the same criticisms of Ubisoft productions, namely that the games that come out are completely disconnected from what players expect or are in a lamentable state at best (we can think of Sea of Bones or XDefiant).
At the same time, some of the studio’s other more niche productions are real critical successes (Anno 1800, the latest Prince of Persia, Unknown Soldiers) and are real gems.
How can we explain this drastic gap in quality between these perhaps less ambitious games and the studio’s big productions? Is creative freedom greater when projects require a smaller budget? To what extent is it possible to deal with a management that seems increasingly disconnected from reality on a day-to-day basis?
I feel like it’s been 4 years since Ubisoft had any major critical success (since AC Valhalla), is there a start of questioning about the new productions planned for 2027/2028 or are we staying on the same logic?
Oh and last question, when is Rayman 4? (20 years already…)
A:
Indeed, this is a mechanism that is not specific to Ubisoft, the more financial stakes there are, the more pressure there is on the teams, and the more freedom is restricted.
This is particularly why it is essential for us to have representation (particularly union representation) of the staff so that employees can work in the most fulfilling way possible.
As a staff representative, we are for example consulted on the strategic orientations of the company, and have the possibility of formulating alternative proposals.
We have no information to communicate on the upcoming releases of Ubisoft games.
Q:
Without revealing company secrets, do you see your recommendations being translated into concrete decisions? Or do you feel that you are consulted but rarely or never listened to?
A:
The aim of union action is to reduce the relationship of subordination to which employees are subject. This is done in particular through what are called employee representative institutions (union delegates/CSE).
We want employees to fully embrace the constitutional principle of participation (sixth paragraph of the preamble to the 1946 constitution):
“Every worker participates, through his delegates, in the collective determination of working conditions as well as in the management of companies.”
This is what we mean by social dialogue.
Our management is currently very little used to the presence of unions. It is important to remember that we are just celebrating our first anniversary as a union at Ubisoft.
Social dialogue at Ubisoft is very degraded and management is more concerned with stock market indicators than with the commitment and daily efforts of employees.
This is why the strike of October 15 is taking place, and why employees are responding massively to the call for mobilization.
Q:
Hello!
A somewhat broad question but one that nags at me when I see the current state of the studio: what happened?
I can’t understand how a seemingly flourishing company could have fallen so low, how such management problems could have appeared and led to such union actions.
Thank you in advance :)
A:
The stock market pressure, which expects investments to be as profitable as possible without risks, tends to squeeze the same licenses endlessly.
As for the union fact, it must be seen rather positively, because it allows employees to limit subordination to financial interests and strengthens their collective expression.
Q:
If I understand correctly, you are calling for a strike because the company is asking for a return to 3 days of face-to-face work in the offices. Do you see a link between this potential disguised layoff plan and the possible acquisition of Ubisoft by Tencent?
A:
We are calling for a strike because management has unilaterally decided to call into question the conditions of work from home.
Employees have had to adapt to the international organization of the company, they then bowed to the constraints of the COVID period.
A good number of employees have therefore built their lives around this way of working. By calling it into question, management is disrupting their work-life balance.
This could de facto deprive these employees of employment who could not return to the office.
What we fear is that in this context of exacerbated financial pressure, this negotiation is not really about work from home but employment itself.
Q:
But work from home had been contractually agreed? Because well… living your life 200km from the office without TT being in the employment contract is completely stupid, the guys deserve what’s coming, sorry…
Incidentally, my thoughts for the locals who can no longer find accommodation because guys with salaries from big cities come to settle in the area.
A:
Yes, it had been contractually agreed in annexes & amendments. There are a lot of employees who have been hired in “full remote”.
Strategically, this has allowed Ubisoft to acquire a lot of talent. During job interviews, it was clear that they would not have to come to the office.
They have organized their entire lives around this factor. Many have constraints that prevent them from coming on site.
Q:
Hello CGT. Is there any difficulty in approaching the topic of unionization with executives in your company?
A:
Not so difficult, employees are very open on the issue. Even more so when it comes to defending their rights. Working conditions can sometimes be very difficult for some. We have a large population to represent, the jobs are very diverse at Ubisoft.
But overall we are very well perceived by employees. There are more and more unionized employees.
Q:
Hello, we often talk about “union in video games” without comparing them to “union in software publishers” for example, is there a reason to separate video games unions from “classic” IT unions? (knowing that there are also very few unions overall in the IT industry)
A:
Indeed, this is one of the particularities of the CGT, we are an interprofessional union, we unionize all employees, whatever their category or job or sector of activity. We work in favor of workers whatever their field.
Q:
On some subreddits, I’ve seen people say that this strike movement risks pushing Ubisoft into bankruptcy and therefore unemployment for its employees.
I imagine that this kind of remark has already been made to you and so what do you respond to this kind of sophisms and false dilemmas?
And strength to you and all employees in the face of these absurd management decisions.
A:
This movement really does not have the capacity to push Ubisoft into bankruptcy. This is not a realistic statement. On the contrary, this strike movement demonstrates the commitment and attachment of employees to their company and work community.
Thank you for your encouragement, it will be passed on!
Q:
Are you going to cook the merguez on CPUs?
A:
We’re thinking about it, we’ll ask our data center engineers for advice
[Note: cooking merguez is a staple of strikes in France, it’s a meme, but it’s very grounded in reality, you’ll have merguez stands available for lunch at every protest]
