Ubisoft Paris developers speak of "morally and physically exhausting" crunch culture in new report
eurogamer.netDevelopers have spoken about the «morally and physically exhausting» crunch culture at Ubisoft Paris.
In a report by NME focused primarily on the development of Just Dance 2023, members of the Solidaires Informatique union group for Ubisoft Paris said pre-production for the game was a «mess».
Reportedly, the Just Dance 2023 team was «tasked with changing the Just Dance 2023 engine just 11 months before launch», while bosses continued to push ideas «that had to be considered at all costs». This was despite developers saying they were «already underwater» at this point.
«Once the creative vision is clear it is presented to technical experts and often 'impossible' to achieve,» an anonymous source told NME. «Either they have no choice but to achieve the impossible, or we are forced to change everything. This is morally and physically exhausting for the employees.»
Several employees allegedly had to deal with «late» strategic decisions from those higher up in the company. Sources also claimed that, while the studio said it would hire more workers and would not push paid overtime, «this promise was not kept».
Paid overtime at Ubisoft Paris reportedly «began as a controlled system», however «as time passed, it became commonplace and a double standard was established».
One Ubisoft employee told NME they worked from 9am to 10pm while working on Just Dance 2023, while some QA testers would work from 10am to midnight, if not longer.
«During daily meetings, some employees were explicitly encouraged to work overtime,» they said. «The message was clear: 'make overtime'.»
The source added these calls for overtime were often communicated through «small meetings». Meanwhile, NME's source claimed shyer members of the workforce were
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