- Ubisoft is offering compensation lower than the industry standard to laid-off developers.
- The staff at the Barcelona studio is being given a severance package far below even Ubisoft’s own standards.
- As a result, the studio is going on strike to get fair compensation and some of their jobs back.
Despite some controversy around it, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced has exceeded expectations so far. The game has gone on to become Ubisoft’s most successful launch on Steam, amassing over 100,000 players while making $1 million through microtransactions alone.
However, the remake’s successful launch has been overshadowed by Ubisoft’s behavior, with the company announcing plans to fire 51 employees at its Barcelona studio who helped develop Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced. As it turns out, the French gaming giant is even refusing to pay fair compensation to these laid-off developers.
Why it matters: Letting go of talent responsible for one of the company’s most acclaimed titles is a horrid decision in itself. But refusing to pay them fairly is a new low for Ubisoft.
As reported by IGN, the compensation Ubisoft is offering to laid-off developers at its Barcelona studio is far below the industry minimum. A union representative revealed that the severance package is even lower than what the company has previously given to its own employees.
The severance pay they’re offering is far below the minimum expected, and below what they’ve offered for previously laid off employees from the studio.
As a result, the staff still working for the studio have joined the redundant developers in a strike to save some jobs at Ubisoft Barcelona while demanding fair compensation for the employees who won’t get their positions back.
Considering how the studio was responsible for creating heaps of content for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, including main quests, bosses, enemy AI, and the region of Gibara, this treatment from Ubisoft is nothing less than shocking.
The action-adventure game has gone on to sell over 2 million copies so far, while also becoming the highest user-rated entry in the franchise’s history. However, the creatives behind this success have been rewarded with nothing but an unfair severance package and redundancies.
Do you think the developers behind Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced should be reinstated? Will losing such talented developers hurt Ubisoft in the long-term? Tell us in the comments below or head to the Tech4Gamers forum for discussion.
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Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.
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