Another wave of Ubisoft Milan employees will leave the studio at the end of October following the recent RTO mandates and Davide Soliani’s departure in July.
In an internal announcement, it was said that Andrea Babich (Narrative Director), Salvatore Ditrani (Senior 3D Artist), Riccardo Stucchi (Associate Lead Engine Programmer), Matteo Bigatti (Expert Technical Animator), Giacomo Boni (Concept Artist), Andrea Giuseppe Castriotta (Technical Game Designer), and Lorenzo De Simone (Senior Quest Designer) will be leaving the studio. Milan currently has around 100 employees.
Those familiar with the changes say that some of those leaving are likely to join Davide Soliana at his new studio, Day 4 Night Studios. Some decided to leave because of the recent Return to Office (RTO) mandates that Ubisoft is implementing across all its studios.
Sources say the RTO mandate has been particularly tricky for Ubisoft Milan employees due to the city’s high cost of living. When Work-from-home was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees moved from Milan’s city center to cheaper places to live comfortably, start families, etc. The resulting RTO mandates have put many employees in uncomfortable positions where they’ll again need to turn their lives around, pack up and move, or risk losing their jobs.
RTO mandates haven’t just been an issue for Ubisoft Milan, either. A large majority of publishers in the industry have tried to get developers back into the office in the last year or so. As of yet, no publisher has seemingly been able to justify RTO with strong data.
Today also marks an eight-hour strike for Ubisoft Milan, which decided to strike following Ubisoft’s decision to mandate stricter RTO policies. Strikes have also occurred at other Ubisoft studios, including Ubisoft Montpellier, Annecy, Lyon, and Paris, with more planning to do so.
It’s unclear if the strikes will significantly impact the development of Ubisoft’s games. Still, sources say strikes will continue if the company is unwilling to work with employees on the issues.
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More people need to be doing this all over the industry. Just to name a few WB Games especially Netherrealm Studios extremely toxic and PlayStation everyone needs to walk out and strike industry wide and not for a few days for months to finally get some positive change in the industry! People shouldn’t be subject to such awful and inhumane conditions it’s not ok for anyone.