Employees of the Ubisoft studios based in Barcelona have denounced the French video game company “for the imposition of a new remote work policy.” Through the union sections of the CGT that were formed last September both in Ubisoft Barcelona – the division in charge of big-budget games – and in Ubisoft Barcelona Mobile – the division focused on mobile games – the workers have sued the company for an imposition of in-person work that they consider “unfair and illegal.”
As you may have known The Vanguardthe change in working conditions that has led to the filing of the complaint in the Social Court 1 of Barcelona was announced to the workers on September 17, when the two divisions of Ubisoft in Barcelona informed their workers of a reduction in the number of remote work hours that should begin to be applied starting next January. Two days later, on September 19, workers from both studios unionized through the Video Game Union Coordinator (CSVI) of the CGT.
‘Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege’ is one of Ubisoft Barcelona’s main developments in recent years
The workers denounce that it has been a “sudden and without transparency” change
The new working conditions imposed by the company force employees to work in person a minimum of three days a week. According to the statement signed by both unions, this new system would replace the one in force for almost five years and which contemplates 60 percent of the days of the month of remote work (at the worker’s choice). It should be noted that the video game sector, especially since the pandemic, has made remote work a very common practice.
“Apart from the terrible change that this represents for the conciliation of many people, this decision has been made suddenly and without transparency,” denounce the workers of Ubisoft Barcelona, a division in which around one hundred and eighty employees work, and Ubisoft Barcelona Mobile, which employs around eighty. At the same time, they highlight that this change “generates significant logistical problems, since the offices are not prepared to admit such a volume of people at the same time.”
The Might & Magic Elemental Guardians game has been developed by Ubisoft Barcelona Mobile
Sources from the company’s workers have told this newspaper that Ubisoft justifies these changes under the idea of ”promoting creativity”; However, this is a “substantial modification of working conditions” that especially affects those workers who depended on the possibility of working remotely. According to them, these changes “suggest that the company is actively worsening working conditions to force voluntary layoffs.”
The first trial is scheduled for December 10 and is the one that affects Ubisoft Barcelona, the big-budget games division that the French multinational opened more than twenty-five years ago and that has worked on hits such as Assassin’s Creed either Rainbow Six. The trial of the also veteran Ubisoft studio Barcelona Mobile, in which titles such as Might & Magic: Elemental Guardiansis scheduled for March 6.
The Vanguard has contacted Ubisoft but the company has declined to comment on this news.
Global crisis in the video game sector
The video game industry is going through a delicate situation internationally in 2024 that has already caused more than 13,000 layoffs and dozens of studio closures. Market saturation, caused by a large supply of games, is one of the main causes, but there is more. We must also add the decreasing purchasing power of players, the ability of large titles to retain users and the erratic planning of many companies during the pandemic – in which video game consumption skyrocketed.
In the specific case of Ubisoft, the situation of this video game giant is not as favorable as could be expected after its big bets this last year, such as Star Wars Outlawsare not generating the income that was expected.
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