The management of Ubisoft France is due to meet with the works councils and union representatives of its French entities on Wednesday, against a backdrop of high industrial unrest, operational difficulties and a fragile stock market.

The purpose of these meetings, which were announced by Ubisoft in early December, is to "calm and strengthen" dialogue with the company's various social partners as part of a "social concertation", following several strike actions in February and October 2024.

The unions are denouncing management's decision to reduce telecommuting within the Group, which is widespread in the industry, as well as the deteriorated conditions of social dialogue and the lack of information on the company's financial health and future.

According to a union source, the agenda for the meeting defined by management, judged to be "vague", is to cover "the architecture and modalities of social dialogue", "the need for negotiations with a view to an agreement on union rights" and "the 2025 social calendar, of which the subject of hybrid working will be a part".

In mid-December, the Ubisoft Paris Works Council voted to issue an economic alert. This procedure, which is governed by law, enables the employee representative body to request explanations from the employer when there are facts that have a worrying impact on the company's economic situation.

In a press release issued on January 15, the Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV), CFE-CGC and Solidaires Informatique stressed that the representatives were "extremely concerned about the health of the company".

Ubisoft has challenged this right of warning before the Bobigny court.

Lapins Crétins' publisher has been going through major difficulties since last year, following the poor reception of certain games, the postponement of the release of the new "Assassin's Creed" opus and several profit warnings, which caused the share price to fall.

Since the beginning of the year, Ubisoft shares have lost 15.4%, following a 43.1% decline in 2024 - its fourth annual decline since 2020.

In early January, the video game manufacturer postponed for the second time the release of the new opus of its flagship game "Assassin's Creed" and lowered its financial targets for the third quarter.

It reaffirmed that it was considering "various transforming strategic and capital-intensive options".

The founding family of the Guillemot brothers, Ubisoft's main shareholder, has initiated discussions to restructure Ubisoft with its second shareholder, Chinese giant Tencent, and other investors.

(Written by Florence Loève, edited by Blandine Hénault)