Ubisoft was criticized again for creating a “crisis culture” for Just Dance 2023 development staff

A studio under Ubisoft reported that they suffered a crisis so severe that it demoralized 10% of the staff at this studio. The reason was given only because the game they were responsible for did not reach the number of Ubisoft developers expected, as well as another of their projects being cancelled.

According to a report from the French labor union Solidaires Informatiquedevelopment process Just Dance 2023 at the Ubisoft Paris studio caused 10% of the employees there to report burnout during the project. These overwhelming feelings of burnout are said to have led to numerous layoffs for employees to take sick leave.

In a follow-up report released by entertainment news publication NME, multiple anonymous employees working on Just Dance 2023 spoke to the studio through the union and stated that the game’s development was a mess”. The staff claimed that the team was tasked with changing the game’s engine less than a year before launch, and that they tried to push the launch date back to 2024, only to be told “Just Dance” [2023] must be under the Christmas tree (indicating it must be released before the Christmas season).”

The employees also claimed that Ubisoft Paris initially promised to hire more staff and not push for overtime for the team, but then they backed away from that promise and made overtime more common. Some employees are said to have worked shifts longer than 14 hours and were “clearly encouraged to work overtime”.