This is a unique event that will take place among Ubisoft’s French employees. The latter are called to strike this Wednesday, February 14th.
The famous video game studio Ubisoft, in the shadow of Assassin’s Creed or more recently Skull and Bones, is suffering a serious blow. He could lose some of his employees. In fact, French employees of Ubisoft are calling for a strike this Wednesday, February 14th. Three unions are behind this initiative: Solidaire Informatique, STJV (Video Game Workers Union) and the FIECI CFE-CGC Federation. They demand a salary increase that corresponds to inflation.
The angry Ubisoft employee
This year was good for Ubisoft, which was able to increase its sales. Yves Guillemot, co-founder and CEO, proudly boasted of a solid third quarter, “with net bookings slightly above our expectations.” Among the 5,000 French employees, many were hoping for a salary increase in line with inflation. However, not everything went as planned. “For the second year in a row, we have proposed an increase well below inflation and even below last year’s percentage.», explains Pierre-Étienne Marx, delegate of the Video Game Workers Union at France Culture.
It’s a shame for these employees who believe that the studio is capable of giving everyone a raise, especially with two big hits coming: Assassin’s Creed: Codename Red and Star Wars Outlaws. For this reason, the unions decided to go on strike on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. “It is a symbolic day that is associated with passion and when it comes to video games, many people are there because they are passionate about it,” reports Marx. He adds that this is one of the reasons why many people accept salaries of 10 to 20 percent. A sum that is less than what they could earn with their job. It is currently not possible to predict how the situation will develop and what impact it will have on Ubisoft.
An update on the results
Ubisoft had an excellent third quarter, thanks in part to sales of Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The latter collected almost 626 million dollars, compared to expected 610 million dollars. The company also revised its financial targets upward. They are likely to experience a sharp increase, around 400 million dollars. “This quarter was marked by positive momentum and marks the beginning of our recovery towards the development and regular delivery of high quality and consistent games,” explained Yves Guillemot last February.
