Ubisoft Developer Hits Back at 'Online Conspiracy Theories' Suggesting DEI to Blame For Company Issues, Suggests Creativity Instead Suffering from 'Big Business Syndrome'

A former Ubisoft Osaka staff member has spoken out against persistent "online conspiracy theories" that the publisher's performance is being impacted by a focus on DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives, rather than the company instead suffering from "Big Business Syndrome."

Last week's major company reshuffle that saw Ubisoft cancel six games, close two studios and confirm layoffs at three more locations has led to a fresh wave of criticism online, and some commentators suggesting that Ubisoft was now suffering following a directive to increase DEI within its games.

Last year's Assassin's Creed Shadows became a lightning rod for controversy surrounding the inclusion of its Black samurai protagonist Yasuke, a real-world historical figure whose prominence sparked a backlash against staff members working on the project — something that Assassin's Creed's former boss Marc-Alexis Côté was forced to fiercely condemn.

Now, a staff member previously employed at the recently-closed Ubisoft Osaka has offered their perspective, and suggested that the firm's DEI advocates wielded limited influence, while "beneficial" initiatives saw "improvements to the workplace environment, market expansion into South America and the Middle East, etc."

Writing on X, and translated by Automaton, the former staff member blamed Ubisoft's current troubles on "Big Business Syndrome" — essentially a stagnation in new ideas due to risk-averse staff in senior positions.

"The decline in marketing/creative departments stemmed from Big Business Syndrome – something that can happen to any large company," ex-Ubisoft Osaka developer Kensuke Shimoda wrote. "One example of this was the excessively low turnover rate, leading to a clear lack of senior/lead-level staff with experience developing online/mobile/F2P games.

"Additionally, as a French-first company establishing branches outside French-speaking regions to build a global development structure, they faced management issues unique to non-English global corporations."

When contacted by IGN for a response, Ubisoft declined to comment.

Ubisoft Osaka was shut down a year ago, impacting 134 staff, including Shimoda. Previously, the team had worked as a support studio, and had contributed to Shadows' development.

Less than a week after announcing its sweeping company reorganization, Ubisoft has proposed a reduction in headcount of around 200 people based at its headquarters in Paris. After the cancelation of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake, one actress said she has lost three years of work - and found out via the internet.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social



from IGN Articles https://ift.tt/2RVKdDr
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Wick Pinball Machine Announced, Touts Pinball’s First AI-Augmented Software

The next Stern Pinball machine will be based on the John Wick movie franchise, including music, movie clips, and likenesses of all major characters – most importantly that of Keanu Reeves, who graces the art and presumably many clips of assassinations. This is not Keanu’s first pinball appearance – he’s already been the star of the 1995 machine from Williams, Johnny Mnemonic, and Reeves was a cast member that appeared in Williams’ Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was also a game in 1993. John Wick seems to be primarily themed around assassinations appropriately, and that’s where things get weird. Causing trouble for you is an AI-controlled opponent. Here’s how Stern says this all will work: To raise the stakes, John Wick pinball introduces Stern’s all-new dynamic AI combat system, an innovation that brings the frenetic combat of the legendary films to the game. The Stern team has created a primitive video game AI system to control the enemy lights on the playfield, setting the John W...
Read more

SpongeBob Tower Defense Codes (April 2025)

Image
Last updated on April 01, 2025 - Added new SpongeBob Tower Defense codes! Looking for SpongeBob Tower Defense codes? This is where we'll serve them up! You won't find any Krabby Patties here, but you will find working codes you can redeem for rewards. These include chests, Magic Conches for summoning exclusive units, gems, and more. Working SpongeBob Tower Defense Codes (April 2025) Below are all the active codes we've found for SpongeBob TD as of this month: 200MILLIPLAYSWOAH - 2,000 Gems, 20x Trait Rerolls, 10x Magic Conch, 10x Rare+ Chests (NEW) 500KFeelingOkay - 2,000 Gems, 10x Rare+ Chests, 1x Magic Conch Expired SpongeBob Tower Defense Codes Unfortunately, you've missed the chance to use the codes below, as they've now expired: AcceptingTheChallenge WStreamChat XMarksTheSpot SummonMeASecretPLS EDUCATEDCHALLENGER BugCrushers THANKSFORSUPPORTING DoubleIt TheHuntBegins 1MillionLikesOP LetsRide PiratesLife4Me StacksonStacks WPatchCh...
Read more

Major cryptocurrency exchange signs $1.4 million deal to help ICE track crypto trades

One of the big appeals of cryptocurrency is anonymity: Unlike actual money and conventional financial transactions, crypto is very difficult to track. Not everyone thinks that's a good thing, of course. In 2018, for instance, Bill Gates said the anonymous nature of crypto was making it more difficult for government agencies to combat criminal activity such as money laundering, tax evasion, and terror funding. The values of Bitcoin and Ethereum also took a big hit in 2021 when the EU proposed new regulations on cryptocurrencies that included the prohibition of anonymous crypto wallets . According to The Intercept , however, Coinbase—the largest cryptocurrency exchange in North America—has made a deal with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, that grants the government agency access to a suite of tools used to track and identify crypto users. The report says the arrangement began with the sale of a single software license in August 2021 for $29,000, and the...
Read more