Scathing feedback from Ubisoft devs forces CEO Yves Guillemot to retract “the ball in your court” comment
It’s been a rough couple of days for Ubisoft Paris and its employees.
Nico Vergara 
Image via Christian Petersen (Getty Images)
Ubisoft Paris recently had a tumultuous couple of days after CEO Yves Guillemot’s blunt comments forced the organization’s developers to call for a strike. Guillemot’s statements, which were sent through a company-wide email, contained unappreciative phrases such as “give it your all” and “the ball is in your court,” which were seen by the intended recipients as insulting.
Related: Ubisoft Paris employees called to strike due to CEO Yves Guillemot’s recent behavior
The ensuing backlash from tireless Ubisoft devs then forced the CEO to hold a Q&A session with the disgruntled employees in an attempt to explain his message. During the meeting, a series of hard-hitting questions were predictably hurled at Guillemot, with one particular worker asking, “Why are we chasing trends instead of setting them?”
According to a report from Kotaku, Guillemot initially apologized for his comments and how they were perceived. The CEO then goes on to note that “he needs the developers’ talent and energy to make it happen” and that “this is a collective journey that starts with himself.”
Although some employees received these statements positively, most of them weren’t as forgiving. A majority of Ubisoft employees felt that the remarks made were purposefully vague and full of confusing terminologies that were meant to confound them. The call to strike organized by the devs was also notably omitted from any of the executives’ comments.
The questionable internal email and the subsequent meeting between Ubisoft’s upper management and its employees were mainly caused by the company’s poor performance in the past year. Abysmal returns on significant titles such as Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope have even forced the gaming giants to cancel multiple unannounced titles.
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