SAN FRANCISCO — XDefiant the online multiplayer shooter from Ubisoft San Francisco copies more than just the gameplay from Call of Duty as sources have confirmed that the developer also copied Activision’s work environment while making the game.
Various devs on the project have come forward with statements on the work conditions they’ve faced.
“It hasn’t been good. We’ve been forced to crunch, ideas are constantly scrapped, so many internal deadlines have been missed and there’s rampant misogyny everywhere. But this is what we all agreed to. It was made clear on day one that if our game is going to be like Call of Duty, it needs to be made like Call of Duty,” said one dev.
Game Director Wade Bagwell explained the thought process behind emulating such conditions.
“It’s all about getting into that mindset. Once we decided for the game to resemble Call of Duty more closely I knew that the best way to accomplish that was by using Activision’s own development techniques,” said Bagwell. “Anyone can make an online first-person shooter but not everyone can make a Call of Duty and that’s because of the immense amount of harassment that goes on behind the scenes. You can’t make games that big that quickly unless you treat your workers like dirt.”
Bagwell claims that the transition to a poor workplace was easy.
“Luckily at Ubisoft, we have plenty of experience at this sort of thing and most people were all too happy to start back up. The was a huge morale boost amongst a lot of our male employees once we announced the plan. They were so happy to get to start making inappropriate comments to their female colleagues again. And HR was happy to hear they could start ignoring complaints again. They hate paperwork. A lot of the women didn’t seem too pleased but what can you do?”
At press time, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is reportedly in contact with Bobby Kotick to learn some leadership tips.
