Developer says Ubisoft suspended him after he criticized new return-to-office plan

David Michaud-Cromp, a level design team lead at Ubisoft Montreal, says he was placed on a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension after publicly criticizing Ubisoft’s new return-to-office mandate. On January 23 Michaud-Cromp posted on LinkedIn: “So… Ubisoft wanna bring back 5 days in the office… because they ‘believe in collaboration,'” adding, “(Spoiler alert: it’s not about efficiency or collaboration).” He later posted a “Professional update” saying Ubisoft informed him of a three-day unpaid suspension, which he says was presented as related to his public comments and “based on an alleged breach of the duty of loyalty.” He concluded that he would “make no further comment at this time.” The disciplinary claim comes amid a wider Ubisoft announcement that included cancelling several games (including the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake), delaying others and restructuring around a collection of “creative houses.” The company told staff — roughly 15,000 employees — it intends to “return to five days per week on site for all teams,” and in its announcement (a pdf) said this was to “strengthen collaboration” and that “In-person collaboration is a key enabler of collective efficiency, creativity and success in a persistently more selective AAA market.” Many Ubisoft employees have expressed skepticism about the move.

Kotaku reported staff venting on an internal message board, and noted Parisian employees had recently negotiated to keep two work-from-home days.

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