Unions for Ubisoft's Barcelona studio sue company over RTO mandate

GamesIndustry reports that unions for Ubisoft's Barcelona studio, which works on mobile games and supports titles such as Rainbow Six Siege, filed a lawsuit against the French publisher in October over its controversial return-to-office (RTO) mandate across all its global studios.

Ubisoft first announced its RTO policy in September, which calls for employees to work in-person for three days a week. The change was soft-launched at its Montreal office last year and was divisive, with several Montreal workers feeling management went back on remote work promises made during the height of the COVID pandemic.

The unions are teaming with Spain's labor group Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) to demand Ubisoft reverse the RTO policy, and aim to secure protections for Barcelona staff to continue remote work under a collective agreement.

In an email to GamesIndustry, the unions alleged that prior to filing the lawsuit, management did not approach them to negotiate, despite their willingness to bargain. They further claim the RTO choice was made "suddenly and without transparency," and would lead to logistical problems as a result of the influx of returning workers.

Since September, developers from Ubisoft's various France-based studios have gone on strike, with encouragement from the French game union STJV. In mid-October, Ubisoft Milan employees also went on strike, and voiced fears about RTO potentially forcing them to quit.

Ubisoft Barcelona is the first studio to sue over the RTO policy, and marks the newest string of lawsuits to hit Ubisoft this year. Earlier in November, a pair of California players sued the publisher for unceremoniously delisting The Crew back in March. And in October, a separate pair of players took the company the court for allegedly sharing user data with Meta through its account linking system.

Game Developer has reached out to Ubisoft regarding the lawsuit, and will update when a response is given.