A Better Ubisoft is asking players to sign their open letter
ByJordan Middler
6th November 2021
ABetterUbisoft, a group of current and former Ubisoft employees, is seeking public support in their ongoing battle against the publisher.
In a tweet posted on November 5, the group parodies the widely mocked emails that Ubisoft sent players encouraging them to play more Far Cry 6. “You disappoint us, M. Guillemot. 100 days, zero demands met. Surely you can do better than this.”
“100 days ago we signed our open letter and set out our four key demands. None of our demands have been met. So today we’re launching a new petition, open for ALL our supporters to sign”
The open letter asks those willing to sign to provide a reason why they support A Better Ubisoft, as well as if they’re a player, streamer, Ubisoft fan, Ubisoft Star Player, current or former employee, or a developer.
On October 29, ABU tweeted its support for the workers at Activision in the wake of the company acknowledging some of their demands. Activision has committed to ending forced arbitration and hiring more women and non-binary workers.
However, ABU also criticised Ubisoft for dragging its feet and making only empty promises when Activision could implement some changes so rapidly.
“Only yesterday Activision Blizzard committed to increase their number of women and non-binary workers by 50% within five years. They have promised to invest $250 million ‘to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent’ and to release annual salary transparency reports, meeting some of the ABK Workers Alliance demands. In just three months it seems that they have listened to the concerns of employees and acted on them. While our demands are not identical, many overlap and could be addressed through similar actions just as swiftly.”
Both Ubisoft and Activision workers have been fighting for better working conditions amidst numerous sexual misconduct and workplace abuse allegations against the companies. In late June 2020, allegations against Ubisoft executives began. A year later, in July 2021, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision for its alleged “frat boy” work culture.
Ubisoft staff launch new petition seeking public support for improved working conditions
Following accusations of 'empty promises' regarding reforms, A Better Ubisoft is piling more pressure on the French publisher.
Workers' rights group A Better Ubisoft has launched a public petition, seeking more support from the gaming audience at large as the collective says the publisher has made 'empty promises' regarding reforms across the company.
Earier this month, we saw workers' rights group, A Better Ubisoft, push for more tangible reforms at the publisher after noting that the company has done nothing more than simply acknowledge the need for changes after 2020’s bombshell investigations revealed multiple examples of employee misconduct at the company.
Eager to keep the momentum up and fixing to pile the pressure on the French company, A Better Ubisoft has now launched a new petition, open for all supporters of the collective's cause to sign.
"100 days ago we signed our open letter and set out our four key demands," says A Better Ubisoft in a tweet. "None of our demands have been met. So today we're launching a new petition, open for ALL our supporters to sign.
"This new petition is open to EVERYONE who supports the #ABetterUbisoft campaign. Please add your name, show your support of @ABetterUbisoft on Twitter and share this link. Together we CAN build a better Ubisoft and end abuse in gaming," the group concludes.
100 days ago, A Better Ubisoft made four four simple demands to the company, and it laments that not one of its requests for action has seen any response. These include:
- Stop promoting, and moving known offenders from studio to studio, team to team with no repercussions. This cycle needs to end.
- We want a collective seat at the table, to have a meaningful say in how Ubisoft as a company moves forward from here.
- Cross-industry collaboration, to agree to a set of ground rules and processes that all studios should can use to handle these offences in the future.
- This collaboration must heavily involve employees in non-management positions and union representatives.
The slow-moving pace of Ubisoft's reforms are clearly fursturating A Better Ubisoft, especially when held up against Activision Blizzard, where meaningful changes seem to be happening at speed (though the entire world's eyes are trained on the rival publisher right now).
We encourage anyone that wishes to support A Better Ubisoft, to sign the petition here.
Ubisoft Employee Group Says None of Its Demands for Better Working Conditions Have Been Met
ZARMENA KHAN
Ubisoft‘s management probably breathed a sign of relief when Activision Blizzard stole the crown for fostering one of the most toxic work environments in the video games industry. But a group of employees has issued a fresh letter, reiterating simple demands that Ubisoft has failed to meet thus far.
To his credit, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot seems to have a better PR department than Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick in that he gave an excellent impression of wanting to make changes by immediately launching third-party investigations, and penning numerous mea culpas whereas Kotick spent a week denying the allegations. Ubisoft also didn’t have a lawsuit to face, so found itself in a better position to sweep things under the rug.
Where a lot of revered Blizzard figureheads ended up getting the boot, Ubisoft let go of a few employees and then moved Guillemot’s close group of friends around to different positions despite numerous complaints.
Fortunately, the employee group hasn’t given up. Its four key demands are outlined below.
Stop promoting and moving known offenders from studio to studio, team to team with no repercussions. This cycle needs to end.
We want a collective seat at the table, to have meaningful say in how Ubisoft as a company moves forward from here.
Cross-industry collaboration to agree on a set of ground rules and processes that all studios can use to handle these offenses in the future.
This collaboration must heavily involve employees in non-management positions and union representatives.
It remains to be seen how Guillemot will respond to the demands in his next call with investors.
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