David Michaud-Cromp is a veteran video game developer who worked as a design team lead at Ubisoft Montreal for more than a decade. He was involved in major projects, including titles from the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Ubisoft fired David after he publicly criticized the company’s new return-to-office (RTO) policy, questioning its purpose and impact on employees. Following the post, Ubisoft placed him on a three-day unpaid suspension, citing a breach of its duty of loyalty. About a week later, the company terminated David's employment, which was not shared by him saying he won’t be discussing internal details or circumstances. The situation clearly highlighted the conflict between an employee and a company over publicly voicing opposition to the firm’s return-to-office mandate on social networking platform LinkedIn.
Last month, Ubisoft made a bold move and announced a major corporate shake-up as part of its Tencent-backed bailout, reported Kotaku. The restructuring resulted in several game cancellations, including the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, along with additional layoffs. As part of the plan, Ubisoft also required all employees to return to their local offices full-time, five days a week.
In response to the situation, David vented out his frustration and posted an outbursting message on LinkedIn: "So... Ubisoft wanna bring back 5 days in the office... because they "believe in collaboration"... but c'mon, we're not completely stupid... we very well know why you want to go back to 5 days in the office..."
Reacting to the post, Ubisoft placed him on a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension, citing the public comments he made about the company’s return-to-office policy.
A week later David again came out with a post on LinkedIn, stating, “Today, I was terminated by Ubisoft, effective immediately,” posted the developer on LinkedIn. “This was not my decision. I won’t be discussing internal details or circumstances. I’m taking time to regroup and will share next steps when appropriate.”
A Ubisoft spokesperson came up with the following statement to Kotaku while explaining David's sudden dismissal: "Sharing feedback or opinions respectfully does not lead to a dismissal. We have a clear Code of Conduct that outlines our shared expectations for working together safely and respectfully, which employees review and sign each year. When that is breached, our established procedures apply, including an escalation of measures depending on the nature, severity, and repetition of the breach."
Last month, Ubisoft made a bold move and announced a major corporate shake-up as part of its Tencent-backed bailout, reported Kotaku. The restructuring resulted in several game cancellations, including the long-awaited Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time remake, along with additional layoffs. As part of the plan, Ubisoft also required all employees to return to their local offices full-time, five days a week.
In response to the situation, David vented out his frustration and posted an outbursting message on LinkedIn: "So... Ubisoft wanna bring back 5 days in the office... because they "believe in collaboration"... but c'mon, we're not completely stupid... we very well know why you want to go back to 5 days in the office..."
Reacting to the post, Ubisoft placed him on a three-day unpaid disciplinary suspension, citing the public comments he made about the company’s return-to-office policy.
A week later David again came out with a post on LinkedIn, stating, “Today, I was terminated by Ubisoft, effective immediately,” posted the developer on LinkedIn. “This was not my decision. I won’t be discussing internal details or circumstances. I’m taking time to regroup and will share next steps when appropriate.”
A Ubisoft spokesperson came up with the following statement to Kotaku while explaining David's sudden dismissal: "Sharing feedback or opinions respectfully does not lead to a dismissal. We have a clear Code of Conduct that outlines our shared expectations for working together safely and respectfully, which employees review and sign each year. When that is breached, our established procedures apply, including an escalation of measures depending on the nature, severity, and repetition of the breach."
