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LEAKED Ubisoft Email From Employee Calls Activists "Dead Weight"

Writer's picture: Smash JTSmash JT

Ubisoft in Disarray: Leaked Insider email Highlights Complete Organizational Dysfunction Overrun By Activists

Up-and-coming Youtuber AccolonnTV recently shared a video covering a leaked email from an employee at Ubisoft sent directly to him that completely exposed the gaming giant's currently ongoing inner destruction. Accolonn went through the details, discussing info that shed even more light on Ubisoft’s struggles, organizational inefficiencies, and their increasing alienation from their own developers and the gaming audience in general. The report perfectly exemplifies the crumbling foundation of a once-revered gaming giant of Ubisoft.


The Insider's Email: A Glimpse Behind Ubisoft’s Curtain

Accolonn not only received an email from a Ubisoft insider, but also, a very revealing PDF. This document allegedly originated from someone on Ubisoft's market research team, detailing the company’s repeated failures. What stood out to me was how Ubisoft developers laughed at the document, as all it did was highlight the very same issues they'd been raising for years—issues that Ubisoft leadership ignored until it became a crisis. The disconnect between Ubisoft's developers and upper management is nothing short of insane. Devs feel unheard, with decisions often dictated by market researchers and logistical bottlenecks... rather than creativity or any kind of real expertise in the gaming world. While the document doesn't mention DEI specifically, it's hard for me to hear all this and not immediately jump to that conclusion.


A Factory Line for Games: The Demise of Creativity

Accolonn described the insider’s comparison of Ubisoft's game development process to a factory line, where creativity gets completely suffocated by endless layers of bureaucracy... Not that anyone's really surprised at this point. As I've said what feels like a million times at this point, Ubisoft is bloated to the extreme, currently housing just under 20,000 employees in total, the company could easily slash that number in half and no one would even notice ANY changes to the games or the overall output.


The insider went on to lament the logistical nightmares they've been dealing with involved in even the most minor of tasks, such as fixing bugs. Devs face weeks of meetings just to approve a fix, making meaningful progress nearly impossible. Speaking from personal experience, when I was a Quality Assurance Tester at Sony, it breaks my heart to hear this kind of struggle. I could only imagine the QA Testers feeling helpless to even bother working hard to find any issues knowing the roadblocks ahead of them anyways. When I would find bugs, I would log it, have it sent to development, interact and have a back and forth when necessary, and even at times, sit with the dev in person to explain what specifically was happening to ensure they understood and they would have it fixed, sometimes even in the same day.

This "factory-like" approach over at Ubisoft has driven out the “superstars”—the best and brightest developers—who seek opportunities at companies that value innovation over politics and process. Any real talent at Ubisoft at this point, is all but gone, according to the leaked email.


The Developer Hierarchy: Talent vs. Activism

Speaking of 'Superstars' leaving, a striking insight from the leak was the classification of Ubisoft developers into three categories:

  1. Superstars – Highly skilled and often well-known; most have already left Ubisoft.

  2. Good Developers – Talented but not prominent enough to secure jobs elsewhere.

  3. Deadweight – Lacking technical skill but thriving as “political activists.”


The insider went on to specifically criticize this 'third' group, suggesting they prioritize “social change” and "activism" over ....actual development, further alienating any of the actual talent that remains. Even the insider was fed up with the activism in gaming, and felt that it was genuinely detracting from the overall quality of the work being done at the company on a daily basis.


A Shift in Strategy: Focus Over Inclusivity?

The leaked PDF pointed to Ubisoft (finally) recognizing their failed attempts to cater to the "widest possible audience" (READ: The Modern Audience). While Accolonn didn't show the PDF specifically, for fear of giving away the source, everything he talks about lines up with how Ubisoft had come out with additional information on Assassin's Creed: Shadows in the days following the leaked email, so I'm inclined to wholeheartedly believe it.

The document reportedly emphasized the need for "focused video games" targeting specific audiences. Ubisoft’s research reveals casual gamers buy an average of 1.4 games per year, often following the recommendations of hardcore gamers and influencers.

Interestingly, as I stated earlier, the document avoids mentioning DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives directly. But it's clear to anyone paying attention here that these strategies have indirectly contributed to Ubisoft’s overall failures.


The Leadership Void: When Bad Developers Become Team Leads

Team leadership at Ubisoft has devolved into a role defined by endless meetings and logistics, with little to no creative involvement. As a result, the capable developers avoid taking on any leadership roles, leaving them to the less competent individuals who perpetuate dysfunction and prioritize non-developmental agendas. It's a downward spiral where management roles are being given out to anyone but actual leaders.


A Lesson from Indies: The AAA Industry’s Crisis

The PDF reportedly compares the performance of AAA blockbusters against indie titles, many of which achieve remarkable success with bare-bones resources. Ubisoft's insanely high-budget projects always seem to lag behind smaller, focused games. This was proof that the sheer nature of Ubisoft’s current practices are unsustainable in the longrun, and highlights a complete failure to adapt to changing industry dynamics.


Out of Touch Leadership: A Recurring Theme

The insider's message corroborates long-standing criticisms of Ubisoft’s leadership being detached from both its workforce and the gamers playing their games. Ubisoft’s heavy reliance on market research, rather than.... ohhh I dunno, listening to its own developers or understanding its players... has left the company struggling to remain relevant in a rapidly evolving industry.

Shocker, I know.


~Smash

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