Publishing a roadmap for bugfixing a released dlc was not on my bingo card

It’s not really gameplay but : not rendering me deaf when launching the game for the first time, games need to have their volume down to 50% by default

Yes I believe they have received buffs on blood moon maps

The Finals changed some in-game props into jack o lanterns you can throw at opponents to deal damage, and the maps have a spooky variant with spiderwebs and whatnot.

Phasmophobia is running a Halloween event amidst its console release, but it’s mostly just playing the map to make a counter go up, kind of disappointed.

Deep Rock Galactic has the usual lobby reskin, and extra cosmetics, always fun to go back to !

There’s only a few that have managed to be praised despite being so far detached from previous iterations, I can only think or Prey, Spec Ops

The real Yggdrasil was the forests we cut along the way

Good luck with your community!!

I’m planning to go to Riga in summer 2025 for a concert, hopefully it does not get postponed for the fifth time (i was supposed to go in 2022 lol)

Thank you !!

Don’t get your hopes up though:

The new studio currently comprises 12 people, including some who worked on the original game and on its cancelled sequel, and former staff from Bungie (Destiny, Halo) and Rockstar (Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption).

[…]

Longdue has not specified exactly who from Disco Elysium’s original team is working on its new game, though it has said that Rostov and Kurvitz are not involved.

Posting it as a separate comment because I feel like the most important info is in there:

Q:

What are the reasons for your call for a strike?

A:

On September 17, management announced that it wanted to impose 3 days of face-to-face work per week. Many of us have organized our lives around work from home, allowing us to reconcile our professional and personal lives, reduce our travel, manage a disability or be a caregiver. This method has also compensated for the overload due to the non-replacement of colleagues.

Despite this, no guarantee has been given regarding future negotiations, especially after the failure on profit-sharing, revealing a purely formal social dialogue and management focused on stock market indicators rather than employee commitment.

We are therefore calling on Ubisoft employees to strike on Tuesday, October 15 in the afternoon to defend the following:

• ⁠Work from home: preserving work-life balance and employment.
• ⁠Salary: catching up with inflation and salary scale.
• ⁠Social dialogue: real negotiations.
• ⁠Profit-sharing: a 13th month as compensation.

Q:

Even if your goal is to protect employees and their jobs, don’t you think that there are too many people in some sectors of IT today? With covid and the world having switched to teleworking for 2 years, the number of jobs in tech has exploded, and companies have recruited en masse. Except that today demand is collapsing, and is facing a void, since the strong demand at the time of covid has now been satisfied. Meanwhile, shareholders are still on their cloud of illusions of permanent and infinite growth and are always asking for more.

In short, we know very well who is at fault in this mess, but don’t you think that a reduction in certain jobs in tech is necessary?

A:

We are indeed very attached to job protection. During the COVID period, profits exploded and this is particularly true for video games, investors expected to have the same level of growth. This period has ended, and some of the investments from this period have not been absorbed by the market. This is part of the vagaries of investments. The video game market is still growing despite everything and is actually doing quite well.

We don’t see why we should get rid of tech employees.

Q:

OP, what is the internal morale of the teams (I’m talking about the field, obviously not the LinkedIn bullshit distilled by management)?

A:

Employees are very attached to their company. Their morale is starting to be attacked with the drop in living standards and the questioning of teleworking.

Q:

Since this is the topic of the day, the cases of walkouts and collective action that I have in mind often involve physical meetings/actions. This makes it easier to mobilize the troops and create a body effect. [I don’t know how to translate “effet de corps”, what they mean is that the union will show as one block, instead of seeming separated]

Consequently, how do you manage, from a union point of view, the mobilization of physically separated employees?

A:

This is indeed a real difficulty, especially since the company refuses us the right to communicate by email to employees. We therefore use all the other means at our disposal to reach employees.

As for the terms of the strike on the same day, we invite employees to join us at the headquarters for those who can. The others will simply stop working.

This is a very good question, and it would be interesting to offer them an innovative mode of action. We will see if it is possible to stream the gathering planned at the headquarters. We are open to proposals.

Q:

Could you share information on to the impact that the Libération [french newspaper] investigation had a few years ago on the accusations of harassment, including sexual harassment, and more generally of a Boys Club atmosphere within Ubisoft?

I remember that at the time there was a certain frustration about the management’s not very ambitious response, but did it have an impact over time?

A:

Ubisoft culture has evolved a lot since the Libération investigation. What is new within Ubisoft is the union fact, which gives employees a voice and takes concrete action to defend their rights.

The employer has the obligation to protect the health and safety of its employees. To this end, it implements preventive measures, particularly on psychosocial risks.

We work daily to ensure that an effective prevention policy is put in place and ensures a healthy and fulfilling work environment.

Q:

Are you going to cook the merguez on CPUs?

A:

We’re thinking about it, we’ll ask our data center engineers for advice

[Note: cooking merguez is a staple of strikes in France, it’s a meme, but it’s very grounded in reality, you’ll have merguez stands available for lunch at every protest]

Q:

On some subreddits, I’ve seen people say that this strike movement risks pushing Ubisoft into bankruptcy and therefore unemployment for its employees.

I imagine that this kind of remark has already been made to you and so what do you respond to this kind of sophisms and false dilemmas?

And strength to you and all employees in the face of these absurd management decisions.

A:

This movement really does not have the capacity to push Ubisoft into bankruptcy. This is not a realistic statement. On the contrary, this strike movement demonstrates the commitment and attachment of employees to their company and work community.

Thank you for your encouragement, it will be passed on!

Q:

Hello, we often talk about “union in video games” without comparing them to “union in software publishers” for example, is there a reason to separate video games unions from “classic” IT unions? (knowing that there are also very few unions overall in the IT industry)

A:

Indeed, this is one of the particularities of the CGT, we are an interprofessional union, we unionize all employees, whatever their category or job or sector of activity. We work in favor of workers whatever their field.

Q:

Hello CGT. Is there any difficulty in approaching the topic of unionization with executives in your company?

A:

Not so difficult, employees are very open on the issue. Even more so when it comes to defending their rights. Working conditions can sometimes be very difficult for some. We have a large population to represent, the jobs are very diverse at Ubisoft.

But overall we are very well perceived by employees. There are more and more unionized employees.

Q:

If I understand correctly, you are calling for a strike because the company is asking for a return to 3 days of face-to-face work in the offices. Do you see a link between this potential disguised layoff plan and the possible acquisition of Ubisoft by Tencent?

A:

We are calling for a strike because management has unilaterally decided to call into question the conditions of work from home.

Employees have had to adapt to the international organization of the company, they then bowed to the constraints of the COVID period.

A good number of employees have therefore built their lives around this way of working. By calling it into question, management is disrupting their work-life balance.

This could de facto deprive these employees of employment who could not return to the office.

What we fear is that in this context of exacerbated financial pressure, this negotiation is not really about work from home but employment itself.

Q:

But work from home had been contractually agreed? Because well… living your life 200km from the office without TT being in the employment contract is completely stupid, the guys deserve what’s coming, sorry…

Incidentally, my thoughts for the locals who can no longer find accommodation because guys with salaries from big cities come to settle in the area.

A:

Yes, it had been contractually agreed in annexes & amendments. There are a lot of employees who have been hired in “full remote”.

Strategically, this has allowed Ubisoft to acquire a lot of talent. During job interviews, it was clear that they would not have to come to the office.

They have organized their entire lives around this factor. Many have constraints that prevent them from coming on site.