Ubisoft's situation continues to deteriorate, and employees have become unbearable, and some people are beginning to stand up against the company's recent decisions. Continuous layoffs, game cancellations, and studio closures have left employees completely losing trust in the once-acclaimed publisher.
Now, some members of Ubisoft's union are calling on company CEO Yves Guillemot to step down. These union members believe that under the leadership of the current CEO, management cannot regain the trust of employees.
Marc Rutschlé and Chakib Mataoui are members of Solidaires Informatique, a French-based trade union, and currently work at Ubisoft Paris.
On Ubisoft's internal communication platform Agora, multiple employee messages also pointed the finger at Guillemot himself. Some employees questioned why he could still remain in power when the company had laid off employees for nearly five years during his tenure and Ubisoft planned to complete a 500 million euro cost reduction plan by 2028.
After the plan was announced, Rutschlé and Mataoui believed it would be nearly impossible to restore employee trust in the company without Guillemot leaving. Although Rutschlé does not believe that Guillemot is entirely responsible for Ubisoft's current predicament, he emphasized that as CEO, the ultimate responsibility still lies with him.
"Ultimately, this is his company, but the people around him are basically 'yes men.' It was the same problem during the sexual harassment scandal in 2020."
When asked directly if he expected a leadership change at the top of the company, Rutschlé gave a curt answer: "Of course. I have no expectations for this guy anymore."
Mataoui also expressed similar views and questioned Guillemot's decision to appoint his son Charlie Guillemot as co-CEO of the new subsidiary - which will be responsible for many of Ubisoft's heavyweight IPs. He believes that this is not only a manifestation of nepotism, but also weakens Ubisoft's ability to create hit games.
"If you only put your white male friends into these positions, you're not promoting diversity, and you're not getting new perspectives and ideas. We're in the creative business and we need fresh ideas to help us make better games. But right now we don't have that environment, and we don't have the mindset to encourage creativity."
Yves Guillemot