Ubisoft Employee Review

Former Employee – worked at Ubisoft

Pros – * Most of my co-workers were nice, talented people.
* There wasn't an atmosphere of "crunch is normal"
* Wide variety of projects.

Cons – * Most political place I've ever worked (as in office politics). Many people there claim to "hate politics" but turn out to be the most politically devious folks I've ever seen.
* Many large egos waddling around, especially on the Assassin's Creed teams.
* Management is a nightmare. Everything is controlled by "Editorial," a review group in Paris. Team management is free to make all day-to-day decisions but do it with the knowledge that anything can be (and often is) overruled by Editorial. All major decisions are made by Editorial. Atmosphere of fear and frustration.
* The most screwed-up projects I've ever seen have been at Ubisoft.
* Paranoia reigns. Not just in the office politics sense and the "project is controlled 5,000 miles away" sense but there are security cameras everywhere (hallways, break rooms, etc.) and multiple security doors to pass through everywhere. To go from my desk to the bathroom and back, I had to go through four security doors, using my keycard to unlock each; to go the the break room and back, it was six security doors. Insane.

* I would never recommend anyone who's worked elsewhere in the industry to accept a job offer at Ubisoft. If you've never worked anywhere before, are desperate to break into the games industry, and can't get in anywhere else, then go ahead, but realize that other companies aren't run this way.

Advice to Senior Management – Allow the teams to have more say in the direction of their projects, don't continue to have everything completely dictated by Editorial. Get rid of all the security doors and cameras.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend