Ubisoft moving to “hybrid” approach to working from home • Eurogamer.net

The Covid-19 pandemic has made the world think differently about remote working, with more and more companies allowing employees to choose between working from home or in the office. With the vaccine rollout underway, it looks like some companies are planning what their workplace structure will look like in the future – and that includes Ubisoft.

Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier earlier this week tweeted that Ubisoft had emailed employees on a new “hybrid” work structure, and Ubisoft has now posted this email on its official website.

“In summary, the future will be hybrid, offering the majority of Ubisoft’s team members the ability to balance work at home and in the office,” the post explains. “This was designed based on our learnings from last year and your feedback; this “test and learn” approach is one that we will continue to adopt in the future. ”

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The email then goes on to discuss the details of how it will work: some jobs will allow flexibility between working from home or the office, with a “small number of roles and individuals eligible for full remote work. “. Some roles, however, will require employees to work only in the office “due to their nature or due to technical constraints.

“We recognize that a production team about to ship a project versus a global IT support team or a digital marketing team, for example, all have very different needs,” the email adds. . “We will avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and empower local leaders to make the best decisions for their teams and projects to drive productivity, quality and ensure happy and healthy teams.”

The email also describes the desktop as a “central pillar of the Ubisoft experience,” explaining that many employees described the desktop as a useful space for collaboration and socialization. Over the next few months, CEOs are expected to start determining whether Ubisoft’s offices can reopen, and Ubisoft executives will determine which roles require full-time office work and which can be entirely remote. Managers will then work with their teams to implement these arrangements and designate specific days when employees are required to report to the office in person.

The email adds that the transition to this new structure is expected to take place in September of this year, although some may start the process a little earlier than that. Ubisoft is also considering a “Work from Anywhere” benefit to allow employees to work away from their desks for up to four weeks per year.

It seems that different game companies offer different solutions to the issue of remote working: Square Enix, for example, has engaged in a permanent home work option. Allowing employees to work from home allows for greater flexibility and accessibility for people with disabilities or people living in remote areas, but it can also present challenges for gaming companies. A lack of physical supervision, for example, means that businesses may feel they have less control over confidential documents when employees are working from home. Schreier suggested that the Quebec government’s tax regime could be the reason for Ubisoft’s focus on the desktop, as Ubisoft qualifies for a tax credit of up to 37.5 percent on wages paid. technical employees based in the region (via the Montreal Gazette).

The shift to working from home has been blamed for numerous game delays over the past year, but it seems that once studios have adjusted, it is still possible to develop games remotely – even if the social benefits of the game are overdue. office are lost. In some cases, working remotely can even streamline the overall workflow: Apex Legends director Chad Grenier told me that the team was “working more efficiently” in some ways because of the benefits of working from home.