It’s not going to be quite a happy holiday for the company that made Rayman and FarCry. 

According to an Axios report, Ubisoft is right now experiencing a “great exodus” of talent. Developers are leaving the studio at an alarming rate.

At least five of the top 25 people in the Far Cry 6 credits have left the company. Twelve of the top 50 credited developers on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla are also gone.

Even lower-level employees are bailing out: business-focused social network site LinkedIn has stated that at least 60 employees from Ubisoft’s Toronto and Montreal offices have left the company over the past six months. According to current employees who are remaining anonymous, this huge loss of staff is enough to slow down and even stall current projects.

Why?

The reasons are plentiful: low pay, issues with Ubisoft’s creative direction especially with the company’s embracing of NFTs, and allegations of widespread workplace abuses. All this bad press certainly isn’t helping the company’s current image, going so far as to be a good target for recruiters from other companies.

Still, there is some hope. Ubisoft said that its attrition rate has increased, but it is “still within industry norms”. The blow is lessened thanks to the company’s November pay raise at its Canadian studios, making the employee retention rate go to 50%. We do wonder how this will affect the next Splinter Cell title.