https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertain...1&cvid=695ec96743054f868ef50c627ad59d6b&ei=15
Just after Ubi Halifax unionized they were shut down by Ubisoft.
Just after Ubi Halifax unionized they were shut down by Ubisoft.
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Ubisoft Shuts Down Ubisoft Halifax
- Thread starter Vegas P11
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If the workers are looking to unionize, you've already failed.
No high-morale, dedicated team who's treated well, shown appreciation and proud of their work seeks to protect their worker's rights.
No high-morale, dedicated team who's treated well, shown appreciation and proud of their work seeks to protect their worker's rights.
Plus they were working on just/mainly mobile games apparently. Hard to find things of value at modern Ubi, but nothing of value was lost here
DukenukemX
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So when are the fired employees going to make game of the year?
No see that guy left Ubi on his own to take initiative.
These people just sought to make themselves unfireable.
I'm sorry, but these are 71 real people who just lost their jobs in a tough employment market. They don't even live close to other Canadian hubs like Montreal and Toronto. You don't have to like their projects to show some sympathy.Plus they were working on just/mainly mobile games apparently. Hard to find things of value at modern Ubi, but nothing of value was lost here
I'm sorry but I don't need to have and don't have sympathy for everyone. My supply of sympathy is finite and limited, I need to ration it out to those I actually care about.
Yes and no. Don’t forget that there is a portion of the population that thinks every workplace is their own ideological social justice advocacy platform, and unionization is seen by them as essential in all circumstances because all corporations are evil or whatever.
That said, this is Ubisoft we’re talking about, and if they treat their employees anything like their customers, well…
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I'm generally pro- union: but even I'd still say Unionisation is a symptom of bad management.
In a perfect world you wouldn't ever need unions.
But also, Public trading creates boardrooms that make decisions like a hill-climbing algorithm: any decision that creates profit is literally what they MUST do. That factors in government fines, civil, criminal and other kinds of punishments etc.... Even if that short-term profit (laying off tons of staff/reducing workplace quality/demanding unpaid hours/etc.) has long-term ramifications (literally anything Ubisoft has done). A hill-climbing algorithm isn't able to look at a distant hill and determine it needs to go down one hill in order to ascend a taller one, it just keeps climbing one hill until it can't find higher ground. In other words, sometimes the immediate forfeiture of potential profit (NOT getting rid of/overworking experienced, quality workers) can generate a more stable, and profitable future.
But in our current public market, when a company announces layoffs, their stock price goes up. that's why we need unions.
In this specific situation though Ubi is in dire financial straights and does need to reduce costs - and not just with this dead weight they got rid of/that you'll see more of (these people specifically just gave them an extra reason with trying to be a thorn in their side/unionizing, again to just try and be unfireable IMO) - which is why they even recently did that IP deal with TenCent to get money/save the company. And let's not forget what got Ubi here in this dire financial situation is the people they hired to manage the company and make their games at all levels that then didn't sell. So again, dead weight is supposed to be shed.
https://staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefm...216e1fc/Closing_press_release_21.11.25_EN.pdf
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Agreed 100%
But like I said, the fact that they wanted to Unionise is 100% a management failing.
For those who don’t know Ubisoft Halifax also made extensive use of the Temporary Foreign Work Program and the International Mobility Program.
Both programs are undergoing significant review and cut backs ending the open enrolment they have had until now.
I suspect Ubisoft wouldn’t meet the new requirements for either program and the lost subsidies from them has more to do with the closure than the unionizing.
Both programs are undergoing significant review and cut backs ending the open enrolment they have had until now.
I suspect Ubisoft wouldn’t meet the new requirements for either program and the lost subsidies from them has more to do with the closure than the unionizing.
DukenukemX
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Be careful, this can go both ways.
If they wanted to unionize then they clearly felt the company was going in the wrong direction.
Ubisoft didn't stop making games that were love letters to woke with busy work sprinkled in their games. Maybe if the people at Ubisoft actually played their games then they'd know why they're being bought by the prince of Saudi Arabia.
View: https://youtu.be/H7bOY-lvwmo?si=56-ljS6sqk8iyH0i
You want to reserve your deepest care for your family and close friends. I get that. I'm not suggesting that you weep bitter tears for Ubisoft Halifax or start crowdfunding campaigns. I'm just suggesting that you remember there's now parents wondering how they'll provide for their kids, workers faced with relocating across the country (or even to another country) just to find jobs in their field... you get the idea. And all that requires is some basic empathy.
Twisted Kidney
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If you look at Ubi Soft's turnover, both from grinding their veteran devs to dust until they quit and from firing most of each team every time a product launches you can see both why the employees want to unionize and as a bonus you can see why Ubi Soft's games are shit.
Experience matters, I don't give a flying fuck what field you're in: From cashiers at McDonald's to research engineers to farmers to mechanics, experience matters.
Experience matters, I don't give a flying fuck what field you're in: From cashiers at McDonald's to research engineers to farmers to mechanics, experience matters.
I wouldn't expect Ubi workers to know who I am nor care nor on how I'm doing. They want to peddle their games to me and keep their paycheck. It already does go both ways.
Still not my job to care for everyone, you can care for them for me. Especially after the slew of disappointments from Ubi in particular IMO. You need to let the weak fail. That's part of 'competition' everyone is always saying they want and like. And these were mobile games they were making there. As if it already wasn't impossible enough for me to care.
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You seem like a swell guy.
I think of myself as a realist.
You guys are all free to start a GoFundMe and donate your money to these now unemployed people and pay their bills for them if their situation bothers you so much.
Ok, but we don't know the reason why these employees wanted to unionize. You can speculate it's bad management, but it can just as easily be activist employees that consider normal business practices some sort of human rights grievance. For example, we recently had labour disputes in Canada amongst public servants regarding work from home vs return to the office. Something that didn't exist 6 years ago is now declared a fundamental labour right, and the idea that an employer would have the audacity to demand a worker return to the office five days per week is somehow intolerable and in need of union intervention.
This sort of activism has been plaguing the tech industry for a number of years now, with employees often taking their eye off the ball while they busy themselves with their social causes. Recall in April 2024 when Google employees blockaded the office of an executive because of the Israel vs Palestine situation, then complaining when 50 of them were fired by the company as if Google was somehow trampling on their rights. Did they need union protection, or did the employer have a reasonable expectation of the responsibilities of their employees?
So yes, unionization CAN be a symptom of bad management. It can also be a symptom of a whiny, entitled based of employees who define everything as some sort of grievance. We don't know what happened in this case, just that Ubisoft apparently decided it wasn't worth the headache.
"Weak" is too broad a presumption. I doubt all or even most of the 71 people were slackers; you could point to the game designers for poorly conceived/executed ideas, but programmers and artists? I don't think so. I'd rather default to assuming most were at least competent.
Besides, there are plenty of great mobile games that don't fall into the semi-mindless Candy Crush pigeonhole. AC Rebellion might not have been great, but it was better than that fluff. The studio also worked on good projects like Rocksmith and supported major titles that have enjoyed at least some success.
Depends on what you mean by competent. The guy so competent he left Ubi of his own accord to go make Clair Obscure? I'd call that person competent. Being essentially a cubicle/factory worker just pumping out slop for your company (again especially if we're talking about mobile games IMO). I'll just say AI can do that just as 'competently' soon enough. Again the forming of the union, you can see as a sign of management - not removed from the table of possibilities. I see it as a sign of useless slop workers simply and only trying to protect and continue the paychecks of useless slop workers and nothing more. Also not removed from the table of possibilities, given things like what HockeyJon said even. If the (mobile even) games they were pumping out were so great, and all Rocksmiths, if you will - the studio wouldn't be in such dire financial straights and them fired TBH.
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Agree to disagree, I respect your take on the situation...
But this was Ubisoft. Bad management is guaranteed.
DukenukemX
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What I mean is that you too could be in a situation where you'd unionize for your benefit. Unions exist for a reason and in that there's power in numbers.
Were they fired because they failed or because Ubisoft doesn't like unions? In many ways the ex-employees had a good reason to unionize because it seems Ubisoft doesn't care about their employees. It's not like any of us are going to fly to France and complain in French over what Ubisoft did, but we can voice our opinion in favor of those who were fired.
If your employees are protesting then maybe you should listen? I know people here don't believe boycotts work... but they do. You know, just like the Switch 2. Unless people here think Doug Bowser stepped down as President of Nintendo of America on December 31, 2025 because the Switch 2 was too successful? Considering all the hate Microsoft has going against them, then maybe listening to those annoying employees would have been a good idea. Oh wait, the employees were right.
View: https://youtu.be/zDDalpOAJ70?si=qHry8Rqlm8N4JJdL
Bad unions (and plenty of) do exist and also get weaponized for ideological reasons outside their (supposed) intentions all the time. You already know this and I've dealt with a shit union myself more concerned with collecting dues than anything else. I'm singularly self employed/funded now though so if I am going to join a union - I'm gonna kill that guy that started that here when I find him and also I need to talk to the manager.
Ubi Soft redeemed.
DukenukemX
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So all Unions bad? Throw away the baby with the bath water. You know how many games that feature unions as the bad guy, vs evil corporations? Every other video game features the evil villain as the corporation who made a deal with the devil so the shareholders are happy. So you gotta kill the devil to stop the demonically empowered corporation. You think there maybe a reason why media likes to make the corporation the bad guy and not the unions?
Asmongold doesn't need the competition.
So all unions good? We already settled that, no.
DukenukemX
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Does that mean you're entirely anti-union?
In theory, no. But that doesn't make me blindly or automatically on the side of unions by default either. Show me the specific union and show me they're not corrupted/corruptible/disingenuous. Because I've seen many such cases of ones that are/have been unfortunately. Like with everything we saw with the teachers union from Covid on as another example.
To be fair, Google did that to themselves. In the early to middle days Google was very famous for how fast and loose they allowed their people to play. They also pushed hard their "Do No Evil" motto. The pessimists among us knew it was all bullshit but people flocked to Google in droves to work for a company that had that atmosphere. Since then Google has shifted more and more towards a more traditional type of company and so, yeah, they're getting push back from employees who were hired by a company with one approach that is now taking a different approach. This is, also, far too common in tech companies trying to attract top talent. They lure them in with bullshit like ping pong tables and flexibility and then when the investors crack down they start yanking all the privileges and demand they work longer hours with no perks. Nobody should be shocked that the tech industry is running into these sorts of issues.
Is it because they weren't capable of making better games, or because Ubisoft gave them a shit budget and shit goals? None of us know the capability of these people. You seem to fall on the side of them being shitty employees and others seem to blame Ubisoft. Personally, the preponderance of evidence given Ubisoft's stock price and recent performance is that their management decisions have been absolute crap lately. They've been picking the wrong approach and it isn't resonating with the public. I can almost guarantee they saw that studio unionize while they were looking at cutting costs and decided that if they were going to cut employees then one of the targets is definitely going to be the union shop.
You don't mix politics with business if you want to run a successful business. A lot of companies are currently learning this lesson the hard way. Just because you're offended or passionate about political cause XYZ doesn't mean you're right. I would contend, confidently, that white American liberals are not the experts on the dynamics of Middle Eastern politics and tribal divisions that are thousands of years old in some cases, and if they don't like the fact that Google is doing business with Israel, then they are free to work somewhere else. If I were Google, I would have fired those idiots as well. They are toxic to Google's ability to actually make money, which is the sole reason Google exists. Google does not exist to dictate and bring about social or political change to certain pet causes as determined by some random employee, or group of employees, in Mountain View, California.
Also, there's a big difference with employees providing market feedback to management on a product, and insisting the company make a stance on political issues. That said, in both cases, the decision, and the consequences of it, fall at the feet of management. If Google wants to declare solidarity with Palestine or whatever, the board of directors can make that call, and can explain to shareholders why they're walking away from lucrative contracts. They can absorb the fallout. Or they can STFU and provide search engine and cloud services to maximize shareholder value.
Or the Chicago teachers union currently organizing rallies about regime change in Venezuela instead of, I dunno, working with the local government to fix a failing public school system and advocating for the rights of their paying union members, which are teachers in the Chicago area.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/chicago-teachers-union-promotes-venezuela-191319832.html
Absolutely agree, and I think it's clear that they realize now that all of this is bad for business. There was a lot of elite capture within their HR department and feeder schools that promoted a certain ideology, and this is the result of that. My point remains that you can foresee similar situations like you had with Ubisoft, where a group of employees within this subgroup who decide that literally everything is some kind of fundamental grievance that requires unionization as the solution. That would me the default assumption that bad management must be the cause of the desire to unionize is fundamentally flawed. Sometimes it's bad management, sometimes it's entitled employees with a chip on their shoulder who have been socially engineered to view every action by management as the evil capitalists exploiting their labour force with the only solution being to unionize.
I know this is a sidetrack, but: that video is demonstrably false, and you should genuinely be embarrassed for posting it.
Bowser is not leaving in response to a "holiday failure." His retirement at the end of 2025 was announced on September 25th... you know, before the holiday quarter even started. Five weeks before Nintendo raised its sales forecasts based on strong holiday sales expectations. This was a planned, amicable exit for a 60-year-old executive who can certainly afford to retire early. He was in leadership positions at Nintendo for over a decade and played a key role in the original Switch's success.
Moreover, you can't even definitively say there was a failure because we don't have official sales data, or even thorough estimates. The market research firm Circana notes that console sales as a whole might have been rough (the worst decline since 1995), so shy of a disproportionately large dip Nintendo didn't necessarily do anything wrong. Nintendo does share exact unit volume — let's wait until its holiday quarter earnings report on February 2nd before we declare success or failure.
Don't just find whatever video echoes your predetermined conclusion and click "copy link." Do your homework.
Hum...
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/1079...r-cry-rainbow-six-game-development/index.html
announced last october, new "vantage studio" would become in charge of the big title Ubisoft halifax had (rainbow six mobile), as they became in charge of the 3 big IPs and Halifax was not on that list of studio that was part of it.
No sure what that Tencent founded vantage studio actually is but all studio like Halifax that were not part of it are probably all being in a similar situation.
https://www.tweaktown.com/news/1079...r-cry-rainbow-six-game-development/index.html
announced last october, new "vantage studio" would become in charge of the big title Ubisoft halifax had (rainbow six mobile), as they became in charge of the 3 big IPs and Halifax was not on that list of studio that was part of it.
No sure what that Tencent founded vantage studio actually is but all studio like Halifax that were not part of it are probably all being in a similar situation.
I agree, it could be either way. But, given that Ubisoft has had very shitty management for a very long time now I would hedge my bets that the unionization was a very direct response to Ubisoft's shitty management practices. If the company was overall performing well and there were no reports of other divisions/offices having issues then I might agree with you. But, Ubisoft has been in a steady decline for a while now and everybody is well aware of how shit their management practices have been. And, as has been noted, when you see extremely shitty management you either get unionization or people leaving in droves. These people, in their location, didn't have a lot of employment options in this field so they chose unionization.
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Having worked in a union environment both as an employee and management I have seen the destruction they cause. When it comes to "unionized gaming", you are basically choking out creativity by protecting those who don't belong and restricting those who excel. Unions no longer have a reason to be around, instead of changing the job environment, you need to move on somewhere else.
Pretty much all gaming these days is garbage, unionized gaming is even worse - this would be have been another turd of a release.
And no I don't feel bad for them, they simply need to find a new job.
Some way to try for worker to capture added revenues if they occur could still make a lot of sense, some works in some markets are mono-employer (public sector union for example when state awarded themselves a monopoly), there is a list of them have a reason but are almost necessary. Union tend to focus a lot on other stuff than maximizing revenu capture too.
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