Ubisoft Reviews

Pros

In San Francisco, the benefits are not bad. There are great programs like Christmas with kids, free games, and a healthy respect for your time off and family balance when it comes to maternity leave. The people are also really great overall. Individually there are wonderful people there and there's a great creative energy in many teams like Brand, Marketing, and Creative Services.

Cons

All the other reviews are dead on. Politically charged with completely out of touch and inept management. The management is failing investing in weak products and poor direction. There is far too many levels of oversight and bureaucracy and little recognition. Most of all, there's a ceiling where you must speak french to be promoted. It is a terrible place to work where people smile at you and then maneuver to take credit for your work. Especially in the studios its barely better than third world labor. People are treated like cattle and incompetent middle managers take all the credit while deflecting blame on to others. There are tremendous failures that would embarrass any other company, but it seems that managers always just get promoted. They are no longer in any position to actually acquire quality talent. Once they run their IPs of Assassin's Creed and Just Dance into the ground this company will be lined up for bankruptcy.

Advice to Senior Management

Clean house. Its time for Guillemot to step down and let someone that actually understands modern trends in gaming to take over. Clean out all levels of management and look to install fresh blood and ideas from out side. Stop being such a tight ass about acquisitions. Buy a company that knows what its doing and improve the company instead of trying to pick bargain basement litter to add to your frankenstein corporate structure. There is way too much cost involved in operations. You run the company like the US Government.

Pros

Working here in itself is fine, the atmosphere is good, the coworkers are a friendly bunch, and the south of france is a really nice place to work

Cons

way, way too much politicking from people. Management is an absolute joke, the plan seems to change on a nearly daily basis.

Advice to Senior Management

I wouldn't even know where to begin...Just get it together. Seriously, they're great guys but they couldn't organise a "binge" up in a brewery.

Pros

- great work
- cool environment / location
- work hard play hard
- great cool fun industry

Cons

- very poor work life balance
- little recognition
- a lot of wasted time and effort from senior management

Advice to Senior Management

make a decision, stick to it.

Pros

great name
great games
many talent people

Cons

bad paid
bad work balance
lack of opportunities to grow

Advice to Senior Management

ask the employees if they are happy

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.

Pros

good project
good collegaug
have a large office
international team
good training
nice boss

Cons

bad team work
bad leader
poor design

Advice to Senior Management

make it more local

Pros

Video game in Montreal is in like a unique buble that deos not reflect the realities of the normal salaries...

Cons

It is very hard to advance, to go up. If you want to go up, you have to leave and come back later. Plus, the contract is a pain if you want to work for a competitor afterward.

Advice to Senior Management

Get as much diplomas before you get in because it's hard to go up after your in. To go up, you have to get out and get back in.

Pros

-fun environment
-love for video games
-good work/life balance

Cons

-very political, which causes bad management in some groups
-not much direction in career growth

Advice to Senior Management

Look out for your employees and take care of them. They in turn will work hard for you.

Pros

Very European place to work. Days are flexible, family comes first, and most every project is encouraged as a bottom up initiative, rather than a top-down mandate. This gives you lots of room to propose good ideas, and develop them within the company, regardless of your role or stature.

Cons

Because of that lack of top level guidance, you spend a lot of time negotiating and playing politics with other teams in the organization - building alliances and support to budget and execute projects that are cross functional, which can be great for someone who has the political clout to drive that, but if you're just interested in getting things done and not playing politics, it can be stifling.

Advice to Senior Management

Push for more compliance and governance within the company as a whole, and set groups up that will establish those guidelines.

Pros

Fun co-workers
Exciting atmosphere in gaming
Dynamic workplace
International company with different nationalities, languages and cultures
You'll be part of a cutting edge gaming world no matter what level you work in.

Cons

Chaotic at times with job priorities from management
Salary low compared to other companies
Benefits not as good as others

Advice to Senior Management

Give employees a better benefits package and higher salaries