Ubisoft Shuts Down Ubisoft Halifax

[kram182]

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.

It's because I've seen shit developers, and activist developers, and shit activist developers as well - so I will not default to assuming that's not what it is either, as some like yourself might want to do instead

 

[Ididar]

It's because I've seen shit developers, and activist developers, and shit activist developers as well - so I will not default to assuming that's not what it is either, as some like yourself might want to do instead

I dunno. I know for a fact that Ubisoft management are a bunch of idiots because of how they've run the thing into the ground. I don't know that these employees were shit. So, I tend to default to what I know and not instead decide to side with an assumption.

 

[kram182]

I dunno. I know for a fact that Ubisoft management are a bunch of idiots because of how they've run the thing into the ground. I don't know that these employees were shit. So, I tend to default to what I know and not instead decide to side with an assumption.

And I know shit developers exist, I know a shit company usually has shit managers, who usually hire shit workers/developers.

And I know it's possible to not have any good guys in a situation, it could be all entirely composed of just and only bad guys fighting each other.

I know I don't always have to pick a side and root for someone in a fight. Sometimes I can just watch and enjoy the show as Ubi collapses upon itself (unfortunately for you - and them - Ubi collapsing means the people who work - or used to in this case - for Ubi too).

 

[HockeyJon]

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.

Indeed. I did say in my OP that it wouldn't surprise me if this was bad management because, you know, Ubisoft, I'm just saying I don't know, and I've seen this happen a lot in the tech industry (and others) where declared grievances by employees are not exactly real grievances, but rather a radical class of worker who is professionally aggrieved and never satisfied, perceiving very normal day to day business scenarios as some kind of major labour rights violation, or to fulfill some personal need to feel like they're making a difference in some social justice cause.

 

[DukenukemX]

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.

Nobody wants politics involved in anything but politics is involved in everything.

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.

As an American Greek I find that antihellenic. You tend to know a thing or two about the middle east when you've been occupied by them for 400 years. It's not everyday you can point to a group of people who can be considered a significant contributor of the fall of the Ottoman empire.

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.

A business like Google is very dependent on their mind share, so it shouldn't shock Google if this is just one of many reasons why people may start to avoid using Google products. There were already a number of good reasons, but we're just adding to that already growing list. Same goes for Microsoft. It's called reading the room, and these big tech companies keep making these mistakes. Just wait until Eurovision, as that'll be a show to see.

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.

Again, mind share matters. Going back to Ubisoft as an example, they eventually ran out of good will from their customers. You had employees leave and make a company that produced game of the year. People warned about the hatred over Assassin's Creed Shadows before it was even released. Japan wasn't happy with how the game depicted their history. The feedback was free and all Ubisoft had to do was either pull the game or rework it entirely. For UbiSoft to fail so hard when they have so many great franchises under their name is a testament that a company should not expect everyone to shutup and make the shareholders happy. Always read the room.

 

[erek]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/entertain...1&cvid=695ec96743054f868ef50c627ad59d6b&ei=15

Just after Ubi Halifax unionized they were shut down by Ubisoft.

“Ubisoft Reshuffle May See Up to 18% of Staff Laid-Off​

by Cpt.Jank Yesterday, 21:32 Discuss (8 Comments)
Part of Ubisoft's recently announced organizational reshuffle, which saw a slew of game projects cancelled, included a commitment to save at least €200 million in fixed costs over the five years following the news. According to VideoGamesChronicle, the early stages of this plan include laying off nearly 18% of its staff, or 200 workers, at its Paris head office. Apparently, the news broke via an internal staff email, which explained that Ubisoft had entered into a voluntary mutual termination agreement with the French union representing its employees.

The voracity of this information was confirmed by an Ubisoft spokesperson, who said that "Ubisoft International has initiated discussions regarding a potential Rupture Conventionnelle Collective (RCC), a voluntary mutual termination agreement that could involve up to 200 positions at its headquarters in France." The spokesperson goes on to clarify that this only affects French teams working under Ubisoft International, and that it would have "no impact on other French entities or Ubisoft teams worldwide." While the reshuffle resulted in the cancellation of a number of games across multiple IPs, there were a number of projects that survived the culling, including Beyond Good and Evil 2.“

 

[erek]

“Ubisoft Reshuffle May See Up to 18% of Staff Laid-Off​

by Cpt.Jank Yesterday, 21:32 Discuss (8 Comments)
Part of Ubisoft's recently announced organizational reshuffle, which saw a slew of game projects cancelled, included a commitment to save at least €200 million in fixed costs over the five years following the news. According to VideoGamesChronicle, the early stages of this plan include laying off nearly 18% of its staff, or 200 workers, at its Paris head office. Apparently, the news broke via an internal staff email, which explained that Ubisoft had entered into a voluntary mutual termination agreement with the French union representing its employees.

The voracity of this information was confirmed by an Ubisoft spokesperson, who said that "Ubisoft International has initiated discussions regarding a potential Rupture Conventionnelle Collective (RCC), a voluntary mutual termination agreement that could involve up to 200 positions at its headquarters in France." The spokesperson goes on to clarify that this only affects French teams working under Ubisoft International, and that it would have "no impact on other French entities or Ubisoft teams worldwide." While the reshuffle resulted in the cancellation of a number of games across multiple IPs, there were a number of projects that survived the culling, including Beyond Good and Evil 2.“

“Ubisoft hopes 200 employees at its Paris HQ will agree to quit so it doesn't have to lay them off the regular way​

News
By Andy Chalk published 18 hours ago
Similar to the "voluntary" program at Ubisoft Massive in 2025, Ubi is looking to make cuts without actually imposing layoffs.”

https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indu...-doesnt-have-to-lay-them-off-the-regular-way/

 

[Aurelius]

Still sucks for the affected employees, but Ubisoft really does need a shakeup. It can't keep leaning on endless iterations of the AC/Far Cry formula, with its few games outside that realm being well-worn themselves (look at Siege or Just Dance). Not that I'm expecting Ubi to suddenly challenge indie studios for creativity, but it needs to recognize that it doesn't take much for a game series to shift from "reliable source of revenue" to "tired format that is now a liability."

 

[1_rick]

voracity

om nom nom nom

 

[erek]

“Ubisoft Montreal Lead Fired After Critical Comments on New Return-to-Office Mandate​

The new mandatory RTO and the layoffs already confirmed at multiple Ubisoft locations, including ones at the Paris branch, have already sparked demonstration responses from unions and Ubisoft employees, with unions representing Ubisoft workers in Paris calling for a company-wide strike set to take place next week, and a rally that was held in Halifax last week in response to the Ubisoft Halifax closure.“

https://wccftech.com/ubisoft-montre...cal-comments-on-new-return-to-office-mandate/

 

[gtrguy]

Just read that they shut down Ubisoft Winnipeg. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-80 85 people laid off. Apparently this is the team that maintained and developed their game engines. Future games will use UE5.

 

[AceGoober]

Ubisoft has been bleeding money since late 2022. Currently, according to a quick search, has $0.67 billion cash on hand per various sources.

What Ubisoft needs, in my opinion, is to drop the woke employees and get back to what made them popular in the first place.

 

[M76]

Just read that they shut down Ubisoft Winnipeg. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 75-80 85 people laid off. Apparently this is the team that maintained and developed their game engines. Future games will use UE5.

That sucks, their engine was far better than UE. I'm yet to see an UE game that actually feels expansive and open instead of claustrophobic like you're constantly dealing with the limitations of the "volume".
And one that wasn't stuttering constantly. And no IDGAF about copes like "it's the developers fault for using it wrong". If every meal gets burnt in a pot, I'm throwing out that pot.

 

[Flogger23m]

That sucks, their engine was far better than UE. I'm yet to see an UE game that actually feels expansive and open instead of claustrophobic like you're constantly dealing with the limitations of the "volume".
And one that wasn't stuttering constantly. And no IDGAF about copes like "it's the developers fault for using it wrong". If every meal gets burnt in a pot, I'm throwing out that pot.

They use a bunch of engines. From what little I played of Avatar (Snowdrop), and going off of the benchmark for Assassin's Creed Shadows (latest Anvil build), those engines are stuttering messes and inconsistent. Some of the environmental graphics look good but they otherwise look quite ugly. Star Wars Outlaws used a newer build of Snowdrop engine, which was horrible until they patched up the game. It ran decently but not perfectly once fixed. Their nanite like thing in Shadows (going off benchmark) didn't look that good either as there is a whole lot of pop in. Even with DLSS on frame rates are bad, even for a ray tracing game. I think my PC gets maybe 40-50 frame rates with max settings and DLSS. Color me unimpressed with Snowdrop or Anvil.

STALKER 2 now runs with less stuttering and performance issues than those games in my experience. The amount of UE5 games I've played without stuttering is slim, so I am quite impressed with what the STALKER 2 devs were able to achieve. It runs smoother than most games, UE5 or not. I think that says something about the state of engine/ game optimization across the industry; it is in a piss poor shape.

Edit: The one engine that I am impressed with is Far Cry's Dunia. I still think the games ran good and looked good. Far Cry 6 had a stuttering problem for me but I am not sure if that was my PC running out of VRAM. I really hope that engine is saved. Anvil seems like it will continue being used. If I had to guess, Snowdrop, which is problematic, will get killed off.

 

[M76]

They use a bunch of engines. From what little I played of Avatar (Snowdrop), and going off of the benchmark for Assassin's Creed Shadows (latest Anvil build), those engines are stuttering messes and inconsistent

Anvil was always smooth for me, and looked impressive in Odyssey, Valhalla, Wildlands and Breakpoint. Rock solid FPS even on the most open areas, as well as in built up areas with seamless expansive worlds. I haven't played Shadows, but if it's bad that might actually be a skill issue.

I wish UE was half as impressive, but I couldn't name a single UE game that I was satisfied with graphics / performance wise. The games that do run well with UE look like fortnite.

 

[Flogger23m]

Anvil was always smooth for me, and looked impressive in Odyssey, Valhalla, Wildlands and Breakpoint. Rock solid FPS even on the most open areas, as well as in built up areas with seamless expansive worlds. I haven't played Shadows, but if it's bad that might actually be a skill issue.

Really depends on the build. Most games on Anvil ran okay from a stuttering standpoint but they have various annoying issues, but generally work well. Snowdrop seems to have some issues with their recent games. After a quick Google it looks like UE may be used for new games, Anvil and Snowdrop will remain for current IPs. I assume the Splinter Cell reboot (cancelled I think?) would probably use UE. Ubisoft's engines are designed around their use case which is good, and I assume Ubisoft is planning on making new games and trying to use Anvil, Snowdrop, etc. for those might not be realistically feasible.