Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot Should Resign, Union Reps Say

Two union representatives for Ubisoft have voiced their belief that CEO Yves Guillemot should resign. This comes after a wave of layoffs, project cancellations, and studio restructuring that hit the company best known for Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.

In January, Ubisoft announced plans to split the company into several “Creative Houses” dedicated to specific franchises. Internally, it also canceled several projects like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, laid off developers, closed studios, and implemented a return-to-office mandate. This has angered many Ubisoft developers, who are planning to strike later this month.

In a recent interview with Game Developer, Ubisoft union representatives Marc Rutschlé and Chakib Mataoui placed most of the blame on the CEO and indicated they’d like a leadership change at Ubisoft. “I think Guillemot should move away at this point. I think the level of hate people have for him [means] he should move on. Then, we could build some sort of trust again,” Rutschlé explained.

“I’d rather have a manager who I consent to give my workforce, than a manager who I cannot trust. The situation right now is that we don’t trust these people,” Mataoui told Game Developer. Mataoui and Rutschlé cite Guillemot’s leadership and Ubisoft’s yes-man-filled management as a long-running problem, first exposed publicly with the sexual harassment scandals Ubisoft dealt with years ago.

They’d like to see Guillemot step down, with Mataoui even suggesting he’d like the company’s entire board of directors replaced with “fresh minds.” Ubisoft has not responded to these comments, and there has been no indication that Yves Guillemot will resign at this time.

Source link