Ubisoft Roasted For Asking Devs To Accept “Voluntary Career Transition”

Earlier this year, Ubisoft laid off devs at Red Storm Entertainment amid a larger restructuring of the company, including the spin-off subsidy with Tencent that will focus on Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six. Now, Ubisoft is looking to shed even more developers, and it’s been called out online by fans and industry figures for the way it characterized layoffs as a “voluntary career transition.”

The affected studio is Massive Entertainment, the developer behind Star Wars Outlaws. The game failed to meet Ubisoft’s sales expectations, but Ubisoft did not say if that’s why staff are being let go. In the message shared below, Ubisoft states that it has “introduced a voluntary career transition program giving eligible team members the opportunity to take their next career step on their own terms, supported by a comprehensive package that includes financial and career assistance.”

Some observers have called that “corporate speak,” but it’s also reminiscent of Newspeak from 1984. Either way, the responses have been swift.

The account for DayZ Badlands even trolled Ubisoft with an announcement of its own.

This isn’t the first time this year that Ubisoft’s been mocked saying something off-the-wall, like claiming microtransactions “make games more fun.” Earlier this month, Assassin’s Creed executive producer Marc-Alexis Côté left the company after nearly two decades, and Côté made it clear that it wasn’t his choice to leave. Ubisoft subsequently shot down a rumor that The Division’s executive producer, Julian Gerighty, was also heading out the door.