Wage negotiations between Ubisoft employees and the gaming large have gone bitter, resulting in a strike day organized by the French recreation employees union STJV (Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo).

The mass strike came about on Valentine’s Day, February 14, and concerned virtually 700 staff from a number of of Ubisoft’s divisions, together with the Paris, Montpellier, Annecy, Lyon, and Bordeaux studios. The battle lies primarily with the alleged imbalance between administration income and the beneath inflation will increase in worker salaries for the second consecutive 12 months. Based on STJV, Ubisoft continues to take pleasure in making a revenue regardless of deficits in administration, and employees are being exploited to extend income.

?✊On a fini les comptes et…ce sont près de 700 salarié·es d’Ubisoft qui ont suivi la journée de grève nationale !
Paris, Montpellier, Annecy, Lyon, Bordeaux…
Bravo et merci à tout le monde pour cette mobilisation historique ! pic.twitter.com/MYcKMwXiRh

— Syndicat des Travailleurs·ses du Jeu Vidéo (@stjv_fr) February 15, 2024

Although the strike was a big one which despatched a message, it’s price retaining in thoughts simply how huge Ubisoft is. The publishing large has round 21,000 staff all over the world, and it’s privileged to be the largest gaming studio in France with 1,000 staff. We’ve got but to see what affect the strike may have on the megacorporation, and whether or not the result of wage negotiations will change.

It has been a troublesome time for the gaming business, which has seen layoffs numbering within the hundreds. Ubisoft just isn’t exempt on this regard, because it waved goodbye to 124 staff in 2023 to “optimize its sources to be extra sustainable in the long run.” In the identical 12 months, there have been as much as 60 layoffs from the corporate within the North Carolina and Newcastle places, with some former staff stating that they weren’t given prior discover.

The strike comes as Cranium and Bones lastly hit retailer cabinets after a seemingly limitless conga line of delays. Developed by Ubisoft Singapore, the sport has launched to lukewarm opinions, although there have been a number of gamers having fun with crusing the seas. Our personal Steven Mills describes it as an “arcadey and considerably grindy motion recreation the place you proceed the loop of plundering ships for supplies, Silver, and Infamy to stage up, unlock a brand new ship, farm the supplies to construct that new ship, rinse and repeat.” For some, it’ll be a blast whereas others will discover it to be nothing however tediousness.