Earlier this year, Ubisoft laid plans for some pretty radical changes to its internal structure. This involved sorting each of its franchises into five ‘Creative Houses’ and downsizing its portfolio, with several upcoming titles like the Prince of Persia Sands of Time remake cancelled.

In response, this week saw 538 members of staff from its Paris headquarters go on strike. On Friday, Ubisoft also revealed plans to cut 200 jobs from its French HQ in a voluntary redundancy scheme which accounts for an 18% reduction in workforce at the branch, as per Variety.

At the same time as the strikes were happening, the company was also hosting its Rainbow Six Siege Invitational esports event on the other side of the city. As the Siege team prepares to reveal what it’s been working on for the game’s 11th year of content, I asked newly-appointed creative director Joshua Mills how the team is staying motivated during a difficult time at the company.

“When you’re looking at the game and looking at our announcements, we’re incredibly excited [about them], and that’s really where our focus is. We’re just driving towards making sure that we’re delivering the experience we want for our players,” Mills says.

As part of the restructure, Rainbow Six Siege’s development now falls under Vantage Studio, the new subsidiary partially invested in by Tencent. Mills provided some context as to how this change will affect the development of Siege on a day-to-day basis.

He said, “I think in that regard actually, we have a much tighter line of communication with our leadership, which is great. It helps when we get the support we need to do exactly what I just mentioned, which is to bring the game to where we want it to be for our players.”

While some staff at the company are using their creative work as a way of weathering the storm, a joint BlueSky post from five French unions encouraged Ubisoft employees to participate in the strikes this week. “It is time for our management to understand that they cannot do whatever they want, whether with public money or the work of hundreds of people,” the post reads.

A big focus of the statement is Ubisoft’s new mandated return to working five days a week in the office. “We are treated like children who need to be supervised, while our management gets away with lies and breaking the law,” the statement alleges.

While criticising the recent changes, the union statement expresses that the need to strike emerges from employee’s passion for their work in the industry. “Our colleagues carry on, hold fast, endure, out of solidarity, out of love for the industry, and out of passion. But enough is enough!

“It is because we love Ubisoft that this situation revolts us!”

As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, Ubisoft issued its own statement regarding this week’s strikes, which reads: “The transformation announced by Ubisoft on January 21 aims to open a new chapter for the Group by sustainably strengthening team autonomy and creativity within the Creative Houses. It is designed to enable teams to develop games that meet the highest standards of the industry, while contributing to the Group’s long-term sustainability in a demanding economic and industrial environment.

“We understand these changes, particularly those affecting work organization, are generating strong feelings. Since the announcement, we have held a series of discussions and information sessions at multiple levels to help teams better understand the new organization and to give them the opportunity to share their questions and concerns.

“Ubisoft’s leadership remains committed to maintaining an open and constructive dialogue with employees and employee representatives, in order to support this transformation and to build a stable and clear working framework for everyone.”