Ubisoft is targeting to have employees working at the office at least three days a week moving forward.
The studio had already adopted a hybrid approach to work for staff over the last four years. It has had a third of its offices being used at least three days a week. However, it is now aligning the rest of the organization with a consistent global policy.
Return-to-Office Work Model
The company told its staff that it believes the planned three-day-a-week requirement will boost creativity and teamwork. However, it noted that the studio would still "respect individual circumstances."
The situation comes as the video game industry has been tweaking its approach to hybrid, remote, and in-office working this year. This is because companies are trying to be more efficient and develop a stronger work culture, according to GamesIndustry.
Techland announced in July this year that it would transition all of its staff to in-office or remote roles. Activision Blizzard ended hybrid work for all of its quality assurance employees in December last year.
Ubisoft has not yet revealed a start date for its planned three-day-a-week work model. The company has roughly 19,000 staff members who will be affected by the new system.
The organization noted that it would be flexible and consider where employees are in the world and what the local requirements are.
The announcement of the work model was shared with employees by chief studios and portfolio officer Marie-Sophie de Waubert.
Ubisoft itself said that it plans to refine its work model even further. This is to balance the benefits of remote and in-office work, said VentureBeat.
The New Policy
Each division in the studio will implement the new policy on its own timetable. The organization said it had been contemplating the decision for months now. It added that the decision was deliberate.
Amazon recently announced that all employees will return to the office five days a week. This will start in January next year. Before the announcement of this change, the company's workers were required to be in the office three days a week.
Waubert said that being together in the office helps solve problems and make decisions more effectively. She noted that increasing in-person time is crucial to learning from each other in an industry that is always evolving.
The representative added that this was even more critical for newcomers who need to master their tools and understand the company's way of doing things, according to InsiderGaming.
