The studio in charge of developing Beyond Good and Evil 2 is experiencing difficulties, according to several witnesses. Repeated burn-outs, departure of the studio director, delay in the development of the game: some employees speak of a deleterious atmosphere.
A director absent since the start of 2023, several burnouts and visits from the Labor Inspectorate: at Ubisoft Montpellier, the problems would accumulate, according to the observations of several media, including Kotaku.
The Occitan studio has been at the heart of many controversies in recent months, between the delay in the production of the game Beyond Good and Evil 2 and rumors about stressful working conditions. According to France Bleu, which published an article on the subject on March 7, 2023, it would even be a question of “ toxic management “.
Burn-outs and many departures
In offices, employees would hesitate to confide, for fear of reprisals, according to France Bleu. The 400 employees of the site would have learned by surprise and by videoconference that the director of the studio, Guillaume Carmona, had left his functions. It was not specified whether it was a voluntary departure or a dismissal, but the latter would have been absent from the offices since the beginning of the year.
This is not the first time that the management of the studio has been pinned down for bad behavior. In September 2020, a few months after the first revelations concerning sexist and sexual harassment within Ubisoft, the Montpellier studio was in turn singled out. A Liberation investigation revealed the “ dark side » of the production of Beyond Good and Evil 2 and particularly denounced the attitude of Michel Ancel. These working methods and degrading comments towards certain employees would have ” traumatized » some workers.
Since his departure, however, things have changed little. France Bleu says that ” several developers would have been victims of burn-outs in recent months because of the production of Beyond Good and Evil 2. The game, extremely ambitious and vast, accumulates delays: 14 years after its announcement, it still has no official release date, and the teams would have had to completely change sequences several times. A grueling production: In two years, it would be 50 to 60 people who would have resigned “, relates France Bleu.
The situation in the studio would have prompted the management of the work to begin in December 2022 an investigation into “ the working conditions in the department in charge of the development of this game “. France Bleu specifies that “dthe questionnaires have been distributed », and psychologists would question the employees.
Ubisoft, contacted by Numerama, stated that ” the health and well-being of our teams are a constant priority. Given the length of the development cycle of Beyond Good and Evil 2, the Montpellier development team is participating in a study on their well-being conducted through an external body. This is a preventive measure to assess the possible need for additional support. »
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