40 Ubisoft Paris workers strike following Yves Guillemot's comments

40 employees from Ubisoft Paris (or 15 percent of its workforce) went on strike on Friday, January 27, 2023, reports Axios. 

The strike was done in response to comments made by CEO Yves Guillemot, who told employees to effectively get it in gear after the company reported a drop in sales during the recent holiday season. Those comments didn't go over well, and French union Solidaires Informatique later called on Paris staff to go on strike in retaliation.

Days later, Guillemot apologized in a company-wide Q&A, an effort that backfired as workers spoke their minds, throwing the CEO's words back in his face. 

Prior to the strike, staff reportedly talked about the French publisher's current woes, and pressures about its development cycles. There were also discussions about what could be done to push back against crunch or other policies that may potentially overwork developers. 

An anonymous employee who attended the strike told Axios that "what will we face in the next 18-24 months will be hard."

Ubisoft Paris serves as the lead developer on the Just Dance and Ghost Recon franchises. Axios was provided a shared statement from the striking employees alleging that development cycles for its games had led to burnout amongst staff. 

Though the strike was small compared to other recent efforts at studios such as Activision Blizzard, the anonymous staffer told Axios that Ubisoft Paris "has helped build the next strikes to come. If Ubisoft management doesn't want to hear from us, they might understand that it's the workers who decide when games are released."