A new report from Axios details what is reportedly a large exodus happening at Ubisoft.
Axios’ report about this exodus says colleagues across the company refer to what’s happening as “the great exodus” and “the cut artery.” Those colleagues describe this exodus happening at Ubisoft as something they’ve never seen before, citing reasons such as low pay, competitive opportunities, frustration at the company’s creative direction as of late, and the recent scandals surrounding the video game development and publishing company.
The report also says that “at least five of the top 25-credited people from the company’s biggest 2021 game, Far Cry 6, [are] already gone,” noting that on the Assassin’s Creed Valhalla side of things, 12 of the top 50-credited developers from that game have departed as well. It’s important to note, of course, that it’s not uncommon for developers to depart from a company after work on a game is complete, but Axios spoke to a dozen current and former Ubisoft employees who say these departures are part of a large exodus happening at the company.
Axios notes that LinkedIn reveals that Ubisoft’s Montreal and Toronto studios are down “at least 60 total workers in the last six months,” and that two current Ubisoft developers say this exodus of employees has led to stalled and slowed projects.
One developer told the publication that leaving the company is “an easy target for recruiters,” given all of the company’s scandals as of late, and that another former-Ubisoft employee left after becoming disappointed with directives from the company’s Paris headquarters, citing that “there’s something about management and creative scraping by with the bare minimum that really turned [them] away.”
However, Axios reached out to Ubisoft and management told the publication that it is on top of the exodus and that while attrition is up, the company has also hired 2,600 employees since April.
“Our attrition today is a few percentage points above where it typically is…but it’s still within industry norms,” Ubisoft’s head of people ops, Anika Grant, told Axios.
Elsewhere in the report, one programmer told the publication that they were able to get a job with triple the pay after leaving Ubisoft. Grant said Ubisoft recently gave all of its workers at its Canadian offices a pay raise and that “those boosts have improved retention by 50 percent.”
This report comes after a summer where employees were left unhappy with Ubisoft management and its handling of internal scandals. Back in July, a new report revealed that many Ubisoft employees were unhappy with how leadership handled “Me Too” and in October of 2020, a report revealed that 25 percent of Ubisoft employees experienced or witnessed workplace misconduct.
In other Ubisoft news, the company announced last week that it is developing a Splinter Cell remake. For more information about the exodus of employees reportedly happening at Ubisoft, check out Axios’ full report.
[Source: Axios]
