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[Anime-Vix]

Ubisoft Employees Push Back Hard on Blockchain Initiative

A conflict between Ubisoft Entertainment SA and many of its employees over a plan to adopt crypto technologies in the company’s video games intensified this week.

www.bloomberg.com

The French publisher, which makes popular titles including Assassin's Creed, outlined its thinking on the use of blockchain technology in a message to staff on Thursday. The announcement on an internal message board prompted hundreds of negative comments from employees posted for all of their colleagues to read.

NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, are controversial in the video game industry. Some game companies like Ubisoft, seeing a potential for big profits, have experimented heavily with blockchain in their titles. But many fans and game developers are opposed because of the environmental cost of mining cryptocurrencies and the sense that NFTs are full of scams and make games feel less fun and more like jobs. Several game companies have announced plans to invest in NFTs and then swiftly backtracked following harsh responses.

After posting the memo to "answer key questions about blockchain and communicate as clearly as possible," Ubisoft updated the message with a promise to also address "current limitations and risks." That didn't stop the scathing comments from pouring in.

"Are we competing with EA for the 'Most hated Game Studio by the public' title? Because this is how you do it," wrote one.

"I think the kids call this entire comment section 'being ratioed,'" wrote another. "Seriously, our confidence in management was already shaken by the handling of harassment cases, and now this?"

Some people, using their real names, even took shots at Ubisoft's lineup. "You know what else makes a lot of money? Making fun spectacular groundbreaking blockbusters. Why don't we focus on that instead?"

 

[wvnative]

I used to defend ubisoft.

I'm sorry.

 

[Tg89]

Ubisoft is easily the worst big publisher. Seems like an absolute shithole to work at and they make terrible games to boot.

 

[azertydu91]

I used to defend ubisoft.

I'm sorry.

Then at least defend Ubi employees since they also are against that shit.I mean I'm not an nft hater but so far I haven't found any good argument about how they are good to me the player ( that sounded like a douche saying), then let's say to the players in general.

 

[Unk Adams]

I used to defend ubisoft.

I'm sorry.

I mean, there was a time when they used to make an effort and put out high-quality games. Remember when they used to push the limits with the original Splinter Cell trilogy, the Prince of Persia games, Beyond Good & Evil, Rainbow Six 3, etc. all released around the same few year time period?

 

[Punished Miku]

Kinda makes you feel bad for the employees a little bit. Glad they spoke up about it, because they're not wrong.

Gamers are not going to forgive or let this NFT shit go without a gigantic fight.

 

[Elios83]

The management of this company
Probably Vivendi would have done less damages than what Guillemot has been doing with his quest for money before everything else.

 

[oldergamer]

Can this guy please be fired from his job. he is horrible at it. I'm not defending UBI on this, but Jason is a total tool.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Sounds like a bunch of whiney, entitled brats. Holy @#$%.

 

[azertydu91]

The management of this company
Probably Vivendi would have done less damages than what Guillemot has been doing with his quest for money before everything else.

Oh believe me you don't know vivendi enough then, they're like opposite king Midas, they can transform gold into shit.

 

[TVexperto]

does jason shitter ever write sth positive?

 

[Ogbert]

Well, those non-binary employees can take their blue hair and nose rings and fuck off someplace else then.

NFTs are obviously dogshit, but so bored of whiny pricks moaning about working for a AAA publisher. Don't like it? Go invest your own money, take a RISK, and setup your vegan videogame development house making games no one will buy.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Ubisoft is easily the worst big publisher. Seems like an absolute shithole to work at and they make terrible games to boot.

They are also the only publisher capable of shipping their main titles on time and with minimum delays.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Can this guy please be fired from his job. he is horrible at it. I'm not defending UBI on this, but Jason is a total tool.

Fire one of the few insiders worth their salt because he triggers you?

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

Non Functional Testical

 

[Ogbert]

Fire one of the few insiders worth their salt because he triggers you?

Yes.

 

[Kacho]

Now this is something I can get behind. Fuck NFTs.

 

[Evil Calvin]

Kinda makes you feel bad for the employees a little bit. Glad they spoke up about it, because they're not wrong.

Gamers are not going to forgive or let this NFT shit go without a gigantic fight.

No fight needed. Just don't play those games.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Yes.

Lmao okay snowflake

 

[Pejo]

Genuinely impressed that they're giving management shit about NFTs. Good on them.

 

[Hosam6xavi]

I hope these stupid whiny employers who leaks everything to Jason get fired

Don't like company policy ? Resign

 

[[Sigma]]

Can this guy please be fired from his job. he is horrible at it. I'm not defending UBI on this, but Jason is a total tool.

 

[elliot5]

I hope these stupid whiny employers who leaks everything to Jason get fired

Don't like company policy ? Resign

so that all that remains are a bunch of yes-men wage cucks that let upper management do as they please? Workers can have an opinion on their workplace without resorting to the ultimatum of resignation

 

[CuteFaceJay]

When the folks how are on the ground floor who actually make the art are kicking off about this is good to see. Really hope this NFT BS dies of cancer.

No one wants their video games to become a fucking hustle.

 

[Woopah]

Well, those non-binary employees can take their blue hair and nose rings and fuck off someplace else then.

NFTs are obviously dogshit, but so bored of whiny pricks moaning about working for a AAA publisher. Don't like it? Go invest your own money, take a RISK, and setup your vegan videogame development house making games no one will buy.

Employees are allowed to disagree with company management and the direction they are taking the business in. There is nothing wrong with that.

 

[chromhound]

EA and Ubisoft are fighting for the top spot for the worst gaming company

 

[Punished Miku]

No fight needed. Just don't play those games.

That's not what's going to happen. People will wage open war on anyone pushing this stuff, and frankly I totally support that.

They're out to take a free and open internet and break the entire thing into microtransactions, and this is the first step.

 

[SSfox]

I mean, there was a time when they used to make an effort and put out high-quality games. Remember when they used to push the limits with the original Splinter Cell trilogy, the Prince of Persia games, Beyond Good & Evil, Rainbow Six 3, etc. all released around the same few year time period?

Yeah, but thing is all talented people left Ubisoft while ago, Ubisoft is only Ubisoft by name, they have nothing to do with the Ubisoft of 2000-2010, First POP games were so awesome, AC2 and Brotherhood so incredible it's insane, i replied those again not long time ago and what bless those games still are to play.

I actually would love to see Patrick Desilet join Sony, this guy is one of the biggest genius in the industry imo.

 

[winjer]

F*** the management at Ubisoft and their unboundless greed.
They are killing what was one of the best publishers in the industry.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Remember when Jeff Ross (Days Gone) said younger employees today think they know everything?

It's happening at Ubisoft too.

 

[j0hnnix]

Found the Senior team lead.

"I think the kids call this entire comment section 'being ratioed,'"

 

[chaseroni]

You'd have to be super fucking unplugged to take the managers side on this one, it is absolutely going to backfire on them publicly.
And I am saying that as a supporter of blockchain.

 

[daffyduck]

Ubisoft is easily the worst big publisher. Seems like an absolute shithole to work at and they make terrible games to boot.

I have to side with the worker drone on that; EA is still the worst.

 

[The Alien]

I dont like the concept of NFTs as i only see it as a new avenue to gouge gamers in the name of their insatiable greed

Serious question incoming:
Is listed in the OPs article and seen it mentioned elsewhere....

How exactly are NFTs damaging to the environment?

 

[betrayal]

What Ubisoft is going through right now is what many companies often experience. At the top, people are in charge who have no idea about the core topic, which is gaming.

That doesn't always have to go wrong, if you give the people doing the work enough freedom. But that's not what it looks like at Ubisoft right now. Instead, morale is dragged down and the relationship between management and employees deteriorates on a weekly basis.

 

[Fare thee well]

When non-gamers are in charge of making your games, you don't have to go far to see why everything they focus on seems to not benefit the gameplay itself.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

UBISOFT just continues down the path of irrelevance.

 

[A.Romero]

I don't get it. How does using NFT's make playing games less fun and more like jobs? Does it make a difference if a cosmetic item is NFT or not?

Not really involved in NFT's so I don't get why the pushback. I don't think it's really about the environment, is it? Would gamers be forced to do something in particular that they don't need to do with games today in order to play this new games with NFT's?

I dont like the concept of NFTs as i only see it as a new avenue to gouge gamers in the name of their insatiable greed

Serious question incoming:
Is listed in the OPs article and seen it mentioned elsewhere....

How exactly are NFTs damaging to the environment?

The compute power involved in the minting and all the surrounding operations requires a lot of electricity. Pretty much the same problems as mining cryptos.

 

[kevm3]

Good for the employees who are actually most likely gamers fighting against the suits who want profits over everything.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

You'd have to be super fucking unplugged to take the managers side on this one, it is absolutely going to backfire on them publicly.
And I am saying that as a supporter of blockchain.

Can you explain why you think NFTs are so bad?

My interpretation is that they're overpriced cosmetics designed to appeal to whales. Aka, 99 percent of the audience is unaffected/won't care.

What am I missing?

 

[IntentionalPun]

I don't get it. How does using NFT's make playing games less fun and more like jobs? Does it make a difference if a cosmetic item is NFT or not?

Well depends on the game.. some NFT based games are literally jobs for people lol

They are hired by people wealthy enough to buy the expensive NFT characters, who then pay people in poor countries to "play" the shitty game (usually a pokemon ripoff kinda game) and collect part of the money from the generated crpyto.

These games are terrible, not something anyone plays for fun.. they literally "play" to make money.

Similarly even if the game is fun, if a game rewards you with cosmetics that are NFTs, people will certainly play them specifically to earn those sellable things. Particularly in poor countries.

The whole "bad for the environment" thing is not really a requirement though as there are "green" NFTs that cost the same energy as this post costs, to mint. I think one problem is though they tend to be tied to crypto currencies that aren't taking off/becoming valuable.

 

[Tg89]

They are also the only publisher capable of shipping their main titles on time and with minimum delays.

Not that hard when all your games follow the same vanilla ass copy paste open world formula. Anyone can ship a shit game on time.

 

[Daymos]

Well I'm doing my part by not buying ubisoft or EA games, I decided that back at the end of the PS3/beginning of ps4. Help them die faster.

 

[A.Romero]

Well depends on the game.. some NFT based games are literally jobs for people lol

They are hired by people wealthy enough to buy the expensive NFT characters, who then pay people in poor countries to "play" the shitty game (usually a pokemon ripoff kinda game) and collect part of the money from the generated crpyto.

These games are terrible, not something anyone plays for fun.. they literally "play" to make money.

Similarly even if the game is fun, if a game rewards you with cosmetics that are NFTs, people will certainly play them specifically to earn those sellable things. Particularly in poor countries.

The whole "bad for the environment" thing is not really a requirement though as there are "green" NFTs that cost the same energy as this post costs, to mint. I think one problem is though they tend to be tied to crypto currencies that aren't taking off/becoming valuable.

So basically what has happened with MMO's since ever?

 

[Umbasaborne]

I still enjoy their games every now and then, but man they really suck now

 

[ReBurn]

NFT games are so sketchy

 

[Bear*Walken*the*Sweeper]

Remember when AAA publishers used to make a lot of money solely because their games were really good?

 

[Godot25]

This got to the point when
1. I don't even care about that Splinter Cell remake, because there is 99% chance Ubi will fuck it up. And I used to adore Splinter Cell.
2. I have Ubisoft at the top of my "most hated publishers" list (I don't count Konami). They are literally worst of the bunch. Greedy fucks without spine.

I don't know what happened to them. I used to love AC in II-Brotherhood-Revelations times. FC3 was amazing, Rayman Legends was insanely good. Blacklist was great. GR Future Soldier was awesome.
Now? Fucking rehashes of open world tower formula everywhere. No semblance of variety or quality. Just bad.

I'm literally sad.

 

[Ogbert]

Employees are allowed to disagree with company management and the direction they are taking the business in. There is nothing wrong with that.

Of course they can.

And their employer can tell them to pipe down and do what they’re paid to do.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I can't think of a worse technological invention than NFTs. They are literally an algorithm where the inputs are 3rd world poor people and energy, and the output is money for a handful of people and wasted energy.