It seems like the stories about terrible work practices inside the gaming industry will not cease to exist just yet. One of the most recent reports by NME and Solidaires Informatique has revealed that the crunch culture that has haunted several other game studios like CD Projekt RED is currently laying its claim on the studio responsible for games such as Just Dance. The allegations range from disagreements with Ubisoft management to burnout from 13-hour shifts.

　　Let's start with the report from Solidaires Informatique, which currently alleges a pre-production "mess" that the team at Ubisoft Paris has had to face. According to the report, Just Dance 2023 burned out ten percent of its developers and had monthly sick leave rates. To make things worse, the developers also told the French union that the team was tasked with changing the engine for the game 11 months before launch while pushing ideas from management that "had to be considered at all costs" despite the team being "already underwater."

　　Adding to the problematic issues surrounding management, the sources from Solidaires Informatique also received claims that the core team was constantly reassuring developers that Ubisoft Paris would hire more staff and not push paid overtime on the team. Needless to say, the promise was not kept. What initially began as a controlled system became more commonplace as time went by.

　　Now, this is where NME's report comes in. A Ubisoft employee involved in Just Dance 2023's development confirmed that they worked 13-hour shifts while the game was being developed. Additionally, some QA workers reportedly worked from 10 AM to midnight, with some individuals working even longer. Adding to this is the claim that some employees were explicitly encouraged to work overtime.

　　To add to the pile of issues, we also have the claim that Just Dance 2023 also had a lot of demands from Ubisoft HQ, which constantly challenged the project. “They want us to be the first game as a service and big live game of Ubisoft portfolio,” claimed the source speaking directly to NME. “We [showed] them a realistic roadmap to realize this, and they refused.” Moreover, this problem has affected every sector at Ubisoft Paris, not just the Just Dance 2023 development team.

　　All of this resulted in a crunch culture at Ubisoft Paris that has resulted in a lot of burnout and horrid conditions for workers. Of course, considering the way the company as a whole has been acting over the last few months, it stands to reason that 2023 hasn't been the best year for the company.