Ubisoft devs call out company mismanagement after CEO comments

Ubisoft employees reportedly flung back the words of CEO Yves Guillemot back in his face. Per Kotaku, the publisher held a company wide Q&A, and the staff had no problem speaking against Guillemot for comments he made last week that shifted blame for the company's recent troubles to its employees.

One commenter plainly stated: "[The ball] has been in your court so why did you mishandle the ball so badly so we, the workers, have to fix it for you?”

Last week, it was reported that Ubisoft canceled three unannounced projects after sales were low during the holidays. Guillemot told his employees that "the ball is in your court" and to step up. In response, workers at Ubisoft Paris were called on to strike. 

According to Insider Gaming, one of the canceled projects was "Project Q," a battle arena title that Ubisoft announced in April 2022.

Guillemot reportedly opened the Q&A by apologizing and clarifying that he needed Ubisoft developers to "deliver our lineup on time and at the expected level of quality. [...] This is a collective journey that starts of course with myself and with the leadership team to create the conditions for all of us to succeed together." 

Even with the attempt at providing reassuring words, it sounds like Ubisoft employees just weren't having it. Other than the prior comment, there was another that allegedly said company management was "out of touch" with games. "Why are we chasing trends instead of setting them?”

Sources speaking to Kotaku added that Guillemot was vague about whether the company would be laying off staff, as other tech companies have done in light of their own financial troubles. Across the company, he stated that "it’s not about doing more with less, but finding ways to do things differently."

Even with that statement, he reaffirmed that Ubisoft would be putting its eggs in the basket for long-running franchises such as Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, and the Tom Clancy brand.