Ex-Ubisoft Employee Exposes The Horrors Of The Company - General

[video=youtube;jrlAQ-AWnQ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrlAQ-AWnQ0#t=140[/video] Taken from the corruption thread in GD, posted by EmperorVagak Studio of the year ladies n' gents...

I've had this feeling for a while, and I believe that what's been happening in the last couple years is a sign of it: The more detailed and advanced our vision for video games becomes, the longer it's going to take for AAA games to be created. But there's a threshold between the time it takes to make a modern AAA title, and the amount of time a big company can wait before releasing a big title. A company cannot just use infinite funds forever (unless you're Valve) to make a perfect, day one, AAA title that is original and new. Ubisoft is a perfect example of this with them trying to make the AC games into a yearly thing like COD. Even DICE knows to wait at least a couple years between releases (but with Hardline and BF4 even that's questionable). Look at Bungie with Destiny. That was a huge team, and they worked for a long time on that game (as far as we know) and it still was a VERY mediocre imo. Not too many bugs, but very lazy content. So now we're at a point, and have been for a while, where these big companies have to work they're employees like dogs just to get the big AAA games out in time. Something's got to change, and to be honest I [I]don't[/I] think having ALL games be developed by indie studios is the answer I like.

[QUOTE=ThePanther;46528120]Even DICE knows to wait at least a couple years between releases (but with Hardline and BF4 even that's questionable).[/QUOTE] The thing about BF4 and Hardline is DICE aren't working on Hardline. They're working on BF5 for 2016.

[QUOTE=ThePanther;46528120]I've had this feeling for a while, and I believe that what's been happening in the last couple years is a sign of it: The more detailed and advanced our vision for video games becomes, the longer it's going to take for AAA games to be created. But there's a threshold between the time it takes to make a modern AAA title, and the amount of time a big company can wait before releasing a big title. A company cannot just use infinite funds forever (unless you're Valve) to make a perfect, day one, AAA title that is original and new. Ubisoft is a perfect example of this with them trying to make the AC games into a yearly thing like COD. Even DICE knows to wait at least a couple years between releases (but with Hardline and BF4 even that's questionable). Look at Bungie with Destiny. That was a huge team, and they worked for a long time on that game (as far as we know) and it still was a VERY mediocre imo. Not too many bugs, but very lazy content. So now we're at a point, and have been for a while, where these big companies have to work they're employees like dogs just to get the big AAA games out in time. Something's got to change, and to be honest I [I]don't[/I] think having ALL games be developed by indie studios is the answer I like.[/QUOTE] The thing with yearly releases is that Call of Duty switches devs so they pretty much get 2 years (now 3 since Sledgehammer joined the crew iirc) to develop each game. Assassin's Creed has Montreal doing the bulk of it each and every year non-stop.

"supposed" stopped watching

If this is true, I hope developers start speaking out against it. I want people to live their lives because I don't want emotionally dead people making the games I play. I want the creative minds behind these games to feel invigorated while working on such impressive projects.

[QUOTE=ThePanther;46528120]to be honest I [I]don't[/I] think having ALL games be developed by indie studios is the answer I like.[/QUOTE] Why not? I realize that when people say "indie games" they often mean 2d platformers and the like but by definition indie means not being dependent on a major publisher. Valve isn't dependent on any major publisher so by definition they are indie.

[QUOTE=ThePanther;46528120] So now we're at a point, and have been for a while, where these big companies have to work they're employees like dogs just to get the big AAA games out in time. Something's got to change, and to be honest I [I]don't[/I] think having ALL games be developed by indie studios is the answer I like.[/QUOTE] Why not? When people talk indie, they're not talking about Gone Home and Fez. Look at Elite Dangerous, Insurgency, Rust, Divergence Online and Star Citizen.

Gotta love Rich RTU. They way he makes videos like this I find so interesting. OT: I was kinda surprised by these happenings, not being too educated on companies like this. It's a shame any company would do something like this to their employees.

Its just a damn shame. I'm still a huge fan of Ubisoft, sadly, cause I love their games. But, I'm not going to want to nuke them because a launch was really really fucky and shitty and awful, yes, I get that. No one is perfect. As he said, it all works or it just doesn't. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed. If the games were shitty ALL the time and NEVER improved, I would understand a lot of the hate but it just is not like that. They are a shitty company, yes. But, hell, at least they're trying like the rest of them. Why? Cause its money. Money fucking money. And for some reason, I don't understand why Ubisoft gets this self-righteous personality that enables them to pump out at least 1 game a year. Far Cry 4 and Unity were released very close together and I haven't really heard many bad things about FC4. One game of 2 is a dud and that happens. I still will buy their games because I love the trilogies and series they created because I just do. I've just learned to never buy their games on Day 1. Why haven't any of you realized that? That's almost why I never pre-order anymore unless there's some really good shit for doing so. We all know you're still going to buy their games because even though people hate companies like EA, they're just somehow ALWAYS willing to give them "another chance".

[QUOTE=cdr248;46528192]The thing with yearly releases is that Call of Duty switches devs so they pretty much get 2 years (now 3 since Sledgehammer joined the crew iirc) to develop each game. Assassin's Creed has Montreal doing the bulk of it each and every year non-stop.[/QUOTE] I had a feeling it was like that, deep down. On every mainline Assassin's Creed game I saw Ubi Montreal, Ubi Montreal, Ubi Montreal, Ubi Montreal, no-one else doing AC except for the spinoffs handled by different subsidiaries, when what they should be doing is have a three-year rotation so that each team has three or so years to make an actual good Assassin's Creed game, with little in the way of this kind of manic 1-year iterative rush and even less of this unethical mistreatment of developers at the hand of min-maxing soulless blaggards. It's times like this that I wish that there were prominent trade unions that governed the treatment of triple-A games developers. A massive guild would have plentiful clout, but it'd be much safer to have multiple different unions that offer different services and ethical management for devs, since if you have a monopoly, the one guy who holds all the power can just rest on his laurels and you can't just leave because there wouldn't be a different option. So basically, long story short, the games industry needs labour unions to prevent the conditions in groups like Ubisoft and EA from getting anywhere close to how they are now.

I still think it's a miracle that such great and fun games as Driver: SF and RUSE were published by Ubisoft. These are not games from the time when ubisoft was a better company. They were already pretty terrible back then, and that's what makes me wonder why these two were so good.

I don't really believe this.

[QUOTE=NoobieWafer223;46528465]Its just a damn shame. I'm still a huge fan of Ubisoft, sadly, cause I love their games. But, I'm not going to want to nuke them because a launch was really really fucky and shitty and awful, yes, I get that. No one is perfect. As he said, it all works or it just doesn't. That doesn't mean it can't be fixed. If the games were shitty ALL the time and NEVER improved, I would understand a lot of the hate but it just is not like that. They are a shitty company, yes. But, hell, at least they're trying like the rest of them. Why? Cause its money. Money fucking money. And for some reason, I don't understand why Ubisoft gets this self-righteous personality that enables them to pump out at least 1 game a year. Far Cry 4 and Unity were released very close together and I haven't really heard many bad things about FC4. One game of 2 is a dud and that happens. I still will buy their games because I love the trilogies and series they created because I just do. I've just learned to never buy their games on Day 1. Why haven't any of you realized that? That's almost why I never pre-order anymore unless there's some really good shit for doing so. We all know you're still going to buy their games because even though people hate companies like EA, they're just somehow ALWAYS willing to give them "another chance".[/QUOTE] It's not just a matter of a shitty release or a shitty attitude towards their customer base, it's the shitty way they treat their employees like they're fucking 19th century mill workers.

Hence why we need fuckin' developers unions to keep this kind of unacceptable treatment and slave's wages from happening again.

[QUOTE=proch;46528520]I don't really believe this.[/QUOTE] I think it's probably exaggerated, but true.

There is a lot of this stuff going around. On another forum where game developers talk in a specific thread word got out that at Red 5, the developer of Firefall, they are gigantic assholes to employees. Former Red 5 employees had told devs in the thread that if you asked for a raise, they would [I]point a fucking gun at you[/I]. Yes, an actual firearm. As a "joke" apparently but basically to make you shut up about wanting a raise. This wasn't just one guy claiming that this happened, it was several.

Fucking hell, if we had the Guild in on this management's heads would be on a fuckin' platter. But who would be rich enough to finance and set up such a Guild? At this point I say that it'd be a cause TB would end up supporting if he has scratch on the side from funding Axiom, along with other YouTube personalities that know the horror stories of dev mistreatment and have the scratch needed to set up the Guild. I know it might sound like I'm rattling on about it, but it's a thing that NEEDS to be a part of the industry. And by needs to be a part of the industry, I mean it should have been around 15 bloody years ago.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;46528699]There is a lot of this stuff going around. On another forum where game developers talk in a specific thread word got out that at Red 5, the developer of Firefall, they are gigantic assholes to employees. Former Red 5 employees had told devs in the thread that if you asked for a raise, they would [I]point a fucking gun at you[/I]. Yes, an actual firearm. As a "joke" apparently but basically to make you shut up about wanting a raise. This wasn't just one guy claiming that this happened, it was several.[/QUOTE] Correct me if I'm wrong but I think I speak for everyone reading this when I say that I can't come up with proper words to respond to this what the fuck

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;46528699]There is a lot of this stuff going around. On another forum where game developers talk in a specific thread word got out that at Red 5, the developer of Firefall, they are gigantic assholes to employees. Former Red 5 employees had told devs in the thread that if you asked for a raise, they would [I]point a fucking gun at you[/I]. Yes, an actual firearm. As a "joke" apparently but basically to make you shut up about wanting a raise. This wasn't just one guy claiming that this happened, it was several.[/QUOTE] Surely that can't be legal.

[QUOTE=Scot;46528201]"supposed" stopped watching[/QUOTE] As convincing as this video sounds, unfortunately I have to agree with this

[QUOTE=Foogooman;46529388]Surely that can't be legal.[/QUOTE] The problem with this is that it's a pain in the ass to get a job in the industry cause so many people want one, and the companies know that you won't quit for this reason.

[QUOTE=Foogooman;46529388]Surely that can't be legal.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure in the US it's not. I don't remember what it falls under though, could be assault.

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;46528699]There is a lot of this stuff going around. On another forum where game developers talk in a specific thread word got out that at Red 5, the developer of Firefall, they are gigantic assholes to employees. Former Red 5 employees had told devs in the thread that if you asked for a raise, they would [I]point a fucking gun at you[/I]. Yes, an actual firearm. As a "joke" apparently but basically to make you shut up about wanting a raise. This wasn't just one guy claiming that this happened, it was several.[/QUOTE] Oh yeah, the head of the company that was making Firefall was a known piece of shit, taking money out of the project like fucking crazy, yet would freak out if anyone called him out for something wrong in his 'masterpiece', forcing the team to pretty much entirely remake the game several times. So many years on and Firefall still isn't really ready for release.

[QUOTE=Lijitsu;46529503]Pretty sure in the US it's not. I don't remember what it falls under though, could be assault.[/QUOTE] It wouldn't be hard to get it charged under [url=https://www.justia.com/criminal/docs/calcrim/800/983.html]brandishing[/url]. I know I would feel fucking threatened by the act.

Hearing things like this is the general reason that I'm not really interested in getting a job in a AAA game company. I'd rather work a development job where I'm actually treated with respect than put up with bullshit like this because "It's my dream!!"

[QUOTE=CommanderPT;46528699]There is a lot of this stuff going around. On another forum where game developers talk in a specific thread word got out that at Red 5, the developer of Firefall, they are gigantic assholes to employees. Former Red 5 employees had told devs in the thread that if you asked for a raise, they would [I]point a fucking gun at you[/I]. Yes, an actual firearm. As a "joke" apparently but basically to make you shut up about wanting a raise. This wasn't just one guy claiming that this happened, it was several.[/QUOTE] This sounds like something a fucking mafia boss would do to his underlings if they messed up.

Yet another post from an "employee" gets passed around. This is so stupidly melodramatic and over the top.

[QUOTE=Super Muffin;46529703]Yet another post from an "employee" gets passed around. This is so stupidly melodramatic and over the top.[/QUOTE] It's hard not to believe, it's part of the culture that you're expected to stay over the typical 40 hours while on salary when you're on a deadline but having that kind of treatment 24/7 throughout a 3 year development cycle? Jesus.

This is the fakest shit I have ever seen. Dude 'personally' had a meeting with Yves Guillemot talking about the PC market? Dude makes references to Pounds and other UK terminology when the only studio that Ubisoft has in the UK is Reflections, and they don't even work on the AC Series, they work on Far Cry and Watch Dogs. Dude says he works in Dev Ops, which is a term that hasn't been used for years.