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News video games 08 November 2021, 14:09

author: Miriam Moszczynska

Ubisoft Gives Raises to Experienced Employees Amid Fears They May Leave

Ubisoft Canada raises salaries of its employees, but not like one would expect. The biggest increase goes to those who can already boast impressive salaries.

IN A NUTSHELL:
  1. Ubisoft Canda employees can expect higher salaries;
  2. The biggest increase will go to experienced developers - it will be up to 20%. The rest of the staff can expect a salary raise of 5-7%;
  3. A Better Ubisoft criticizes the planned raises saying that they will only introduce greater inequality in the company.

Employees at Ubisoft's Canadian branch can look forward to raises coming in late November. The biggest pay increase, however, will not be experienced by junior employees, but the veterans among the game designers, which the company wants to keep. As reported by Kotaku, those holding senior positions in Ubisoft's Canadian studios can expect to earn up to 20% more.

Ubisoft Canada is the studio that associates teams located, among others, in Montreal or Toronto, well known for games such as Far Cry 6 and Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. So to say that a lot of gamedev stars work there would not be an overstatement. And it is such individuals that Ubisoft wants to keep with them by increasing their monthly salary. Why the concern about experienced employees leaving? Well, it is the aftermath of the resignation of three directors: Raphael Lacoste, Darby McDevitt and Eric Baptizat, who left the company earlier this year.

However, in addition to high-profile employees, there are others in the company, with younger seniority. They, in turn, are set to receive an average raise of 5 to 7 percent. This has worried A Better Ubisoft, an organization that associates employees of the French game developer who are fighting for better working conditions. The group bluntly stated that the implementation of such bonuses is to openly create even more inequality, which is already the company's daily bread. The email, which referred to the pay rise as a "scandal", reads:

“These moves do absolutely nothing to address the key demands of A Better Ubisoft. In addition, by weighting the pay rises enormously in favor of senior staff, management are exacerbating the gap between the highly and low paid workers," wrote A Better Ubisoft in an email to Kotaku editors

Ubisoft itself has also taken a stand on the raises, explaining them by the changes that are taking place in the Canadian market. Precisely because of them, the French company decided to introduce, for the first time, salary adjustments in a period other than April, when it is customary to make such adjustments. The drastic differences in increases have not been commented on by the company. We also don't know if they will cover branches in other countries.

While the efforts of A Better Ubisoft deserve approval, in light of changes such as those announced by the company, they seem to be nothing more than a battle with windmills. But who knows, maybe eventually Ubisoft will give us a reason to start liking it instead of doing the complete opposite.

  1. Ubisoft - official website