A month ago, Ubisoft mandated that employees work from the office at least three days a week. Many were strongly displeased with this requirement.
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On October 15, employees of Ubisoft's French offices began a three-day strike. According to the Agence France-Presse, approximately 100 people in Paris, 50 in Montpellier, and others from Annecy and Lyon joined the picket. The STJV union estimated that more than 700 Ubisoft employees participated in total, making it one of the largest strikes in the history of the gaming industry.
In September, the STJV union noted that remote work had been in place at Ubisoft for the past five years. According to them, during this time, developers had reorganized their lives and now simply cannot revert to another work format. STJV claimed that the forced return to the office would cause some to resign and lead to "disorganization of many game projects and a sharp increase in psychosocial risks for the remaining employees."
Ubisoft management did not comment on the protests.
The current strike is the second for Ubisoft in the past year. In February, about 700 employees in France also went on strike due to low wages.