French publishing giant Ubisoft’s Montpellier studio is seemingly being investigated owing to concerns over the health of its staff.
As reported by Kotaku, local labour authority Inspection du Travail has been taking a look at the developer due to an ‘unprecedented’ number of staff being on sick leave or being burnt out. ]
Furthermore, Ubisoft veteran and Montpellier studio MD Guillaume Carmona has left the outfit, with no reason given. This comes in the wake of 2022 being a year where ‘dozens’ of staff at the developer have been off work for either stress or illness.
“The health and wellness of our teams is an ongoing priority,” a Ubisoft spokesperson said.
“Given the length of the development cycle with Beyond Good and Evil 2, the Montpellier development team is undergoing well-being assessments through a third-party for preventative measures and to evaluate where additional support may be needed.”
Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been in development in some form or another for around 15 years. The current iteration of the project was shown off at E3 2017 with a trailer. Director Michel Ancel left Ubisoft and the games industry in 2020 amid reports that he was under investigation for his conduct at the company.
