Several unions called Ubisoft employees on Tuesday, October 15, for a three-day strike, the second this year, as the French video game giant goes through a difficult time with slow sales and the postponement of a big game. of rumors about an acquisition of the company.
Several strike pickets are planned in front of the game publisher’s various studios, in particular in Paris, Lyon, Montpellier and Annecy, after the group’s announcement in mid-September to impose at least three days of presence in the office per week. “It was the straw that broke the camel’s back”Clément Montigny, delegate of the Video Game Workers Union (STJV) at the Montpellier studio, explained to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
In an email sent to its employees, management justified this decision by stating that “Creativity is stimulated through interpersonal interactions, informal conversations and collaboration around the same table”. “People were hired with the promise of three days of teleworkingsays Clément Montigny, and calls into question the entire organization of their lives. Potentially, these people should consider leaving the company, which is unacceptable. »
Salary effort
The unions also ask the management “a real salary effort”remembering that a first major strike in February mobilized more than 700 employees of the 4,000 that the company has in France. “We have not received a response from management”laments Pierre-Etienne Marx, STVJ delegate at Ubisoft Paris. “We are going to increase [la pression] until there are real concessions”he warned, hoping this time to reach a thousand strikers.
For its part, Ubisoft says it is examining “how to refine [son modèle] to better balance the benefits of remote and in-office work »after a first meeting with the unions last Tuesday.
This strike comes at a bad time for the French video game flagship, which has been suffering a series of disappointments for several months. “Ubisoft suffers a series of releases [de jeux] who do not achieve the expected success »estimates Oscar Lemaire, from the specialized site Ludostrie, citing in particular Skull and bones and the new episode of prince of persia.
At the end of September, its general director, Yves Guillemot, also admitted that the first sales of Star Wars Outlawspublished at the end of August, were “weaker than expected”forcing Ubisoft to reduce its financial goals and postpone the release of the next part of its flagship series by three months. assassin’s creedto give your teams time to perfect it.
A bad streak punished in the financial markets: Ubisoft shares have plummeted more than 40% since the beginning of the year, reaching their lowest level in ten years in September. At the beginning of October, the Bloomberg agency also reported a possible share buyback by the Chinese technology giant Tencent, which already owns about 10% of the company, and the Guillemot family, the group’s main shareholder, to take out the group. Stock Market. Exchange.
