Ubisoft asking all staff to return to office full-time to “boost the collective performance for AAA”

Ubisoft has announced that its new restructuring into Creative Houses will come with the intent to bring all staff back into the office five days a week, with an annual allowance of work-from-home days.

“We really want to strengthen onsite collaboration, the collective dynamic across teams,” SVP of Studio Operations Marie Sophie du Waubert told GamesIndustry.biz. “We know that in-person collaboration and interactions are key enablers of efficiency, creativity, and collective success in this persistently selective market. It’s one enabler among others, but it’s really one we believe in.”

When asked if this was expected to accelerate staff turnover alongside the company’s ongoing cuts, she said “the one and only objective is to enhance collective efficiency, to drive the dynamics, the creativity, the sense of belonging.”

“It’s an intention. We will, of course, discuss in due time with the different countries the modus operandi, and the flexibility linked to that evolution of our model,” she said. “But the objective is really linked to the quality of our games and the quality of our creativity. And it’s one enabler among others for the Creative Houses to reconnect with success and team engagement.”

“It won’t happen overnight, of course, it’s an intention and we’ll do it properly in dialogue with all the stakeholders.”

CFO Frederick Duguet confirmed the company “will of course discuss with the employees and their representatives and all the teams,” but described the changes “really a matter of further boosting the collective performance for AAAs.”

“As Marie Sophie said, collective dynamics, permanent knowledge sharing, solving problems together at a high velocity is critical in this world of AAA business. That’s the purpose and the intention that we want to further share with the teams.”

Full-time return-to-office mandates remain a divisive topic, and are opposed by a number of gaming unions. Rockstar was one of the first companies to require it following the pandemic, asking staff to return to the office full-time in 2024.

Our full interview with Duguet and du Waubert will be published shortly.