Barcelona Ubisoft Workers Take Legal Action Against Company Over Return-to-Office Directive
GamesIndustry reports that labor unions representing Ubisoft’s Barcelona studio, which develops mobile games and supports titles such as Rainbow Six Siege, have initiated legal action against the French publisher in October concerning its disputed return-to-office (RTO) policy enforced across all its international locations.
Ubisoft initially revealed its RTO strategy in September, which mandates employees to attend the office three days a week. This decision was softly implemented at its Montreal workplace last year and sparked division, as many Montreal staff felt management reversed earlier commitments to remote work made during the height of the COVID pandemic.
The unions are partnering with Spain’s labor collective Confederación General del Trabajo (CGT) to demand Ubisoft reconsider the RTO policy, aiming to secure guarantees for Barcelona employees to maintain remote work practices under a collective contract.
In correspondence with GamesIndustry, the unions claimed that prior to launching the lawsuit, management did not approach them for negotiations, despite their readiness to discuss. They further stated that the RTO decision was made “suddenly and without transparency,” which could lead to logistical complications due to the influx of returning employees.
Since September, developers from Ubisoft’s various France-based studios have participated in strikes, with support from the French gaming union STJV. In mid-October, Ubisoft Milan employees also joined the strikes, expressing concerns about the RTO potentially forcing them to resign.
Ubisoft Barcelona is the first studio to take legal action regarding the RTO policy, adding to the series of lawsuits confronting Ubisoft this year. Earlier in November, a couple of gamers from California sued the publisher for abruptly delisting The Crew earlier this year. Furthermore, in October, another group of gamers took the company to court, accusing it of apparently sharing personal data with Meta via its account linking system.
Game Developer has contacted Ubisoft regarding the lawsuit, and will provide updates as a response is received.
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Contributing Editor, GameDeveloper.com
A native of Kansas City, MO, Justin Carter has contributed to a wide array of websites, including IGN, Polygon, and SyFy Wire. In addition to Game Developer, his writings can also be found on io9 over at Gizmodo. Don’t ask him about how much gum he has had, because the answer is likely to be more than he would care to reveal.