As a Singaporean, I’ve noticed there’s been a lot of news around Skull & Bones this week on Reddit.
For those not in the loop, it’s part of a gigantic clusterfuck about the Ubisoft Studio in Singapore that drew headlines years ago.
https://kotaku.com/the-messy-stalled-reckoning-at-an-assassins-creed-co-d-1847336158
The above expose gave me a very poor impression of Ubisoft and (perhaps unfairly) French work culture as well, in terms of racial discrimination, sexual harassment etc.
And obviously there were no substantial action taken by the local government, given how pliant they are towards foreign direct investment.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/28/22906556/ubisoft-singapore-watchdog-tafep-closes-investigation
And it seems like there’s still complications related to Skull & Bones till this year.
https://kotaku.com/skull-bones-release-date-beta-delay-union-ubisoft-1850808766
Honestly, it’s a pretty damning piece but just have a look for yourself – I simply cannot understand why my government would throw money to try and “kick-start the gaming industry / make a name out” with Ubisoft and end up with this embarrassment 10 years down the road.
13 Comments
Happens when you have people clueless about how successful games are created in charge of providing the funds
I won’t touch any Ubisoft game after that one asshate said we need to be comfortable without not owning our games.
Ubi has the worst reputation in the industry, it boggles my mind that of all the companies they could have dealt with it was Ubi. Hopefully it doesn’t put your country off of similar future investments. It’s a good idea and why Montreal has done so well in gaming in the modern era.
I think it’s a great move for the local economy just…Not with Ubi.
Biasa la tu bro. Nak buat camna.
Ubisoft are masters are obtaining massive government handouts. It’s very French 🙂 Their HR policies are from the 1950’s as well. Good luck . (Plus their senior management are all related, it’s basically a family business where only those “in the club “ ever see decent pay.
As a French i’m sorry for my country releasing this awful company on the world.They are a rich family of assholes completely detached from reality. Don’t buy anything from them, the only way for them to understand is to going bankrupt, even if i’m sad for the employees, hopefully thay can find a new job in a decent company.
Why? Subsidies are a standard practice. Germany subsidies all Anno titles, I am glad they use this money for it. It just did not turn out well this time, and subsidies should be excluded from games with a MTX shop.
So the rumors about Ubisoft not canceling the game because of a funding deal with the government in Singapore were true ?
SG Govs always put their money in established brands and think it’ll help them moving toward, just look at this mess and the simplygo debacle.
Pundeh.
Should have invested more in the grassroots and help the local devs of games such as Cat’s Quest and Cuisineer.
Ubisoft is the only major Western gaming company that has this massive international footprint for development.
EA, Activision, Take Two have far more modest international offices, mostly focused on support or insourcing.
The intent from the Singapore government makes sense, but Ubisoft screwed up the moment they didn’t install the right leadership at the studio.
Cat’s Tale and Cuisineer just don’t have the scale. And the Singapore government already has support for indie developers through the PIXEL offices.
Ultimately this was a mismanaged project but the initial thesis to start it is credible.
Because that’s what our government likes to do. They do not believe in training local tech expertise. They believe in the quick solution by buying tech from foreigners. We’re not a high tech country, we’re a buy tech country.
Last good Ubisoft game was in 2014. They have been going downhill since then.
I’ve noticed that I cannot think of a single “always online” game that is of comparable quality to the great titles of recent years like Elden Ring or Baldur’s Gate 3.
The closest I can think of would be MOBA type games but PVP always has cheaters that lower the quality of gameplay.