Arrrrrrggggghhh!! Internal Office Moves

I just wanted to say that I absolutely hate not having an office at work.  I understand all the studios are into the touchy feely team environment but I find it to be so unproductive.  Everyone chatting all the time, I have to live with my headset on just to focus.  The open office space environment is sold as, "We want you to be surrounded with your fellow teammates" but I feel it is really "We'd like to keep an eye on you." and I find it insulting that they would feel they need to.  I'm not a kid, I know I have work to do and why I'm at work.

Ubisoft Toronto is all open office environment.  There is just one "office" in the entire place and that is for the studio head.  So I try and manage but Ubisoft does something I've never seen any other studio do and that is move your desk about every 4 months.  I truly have no clue why they feel the need to do this.  So you get yourself into an area, and a workflow.  You get use to the people around you and figure out a way to be productive around them.  Then POOF! A few months later you're moved to a new location with new people and have to do it all over again.  I've got to be honest it enrages me.

I would assume Ubi's logic is that as the team size and structure changes they want people to sit near people relevant to what they are working on, but this is not necessary.  Especially in our current day and age it absolutely does not matter where you are sitting.  There is email, there are messenger services, there is video chat, and Ubi has them all available to keep people connected.  So why to they still feel the need to rearrange my environment every few months??  AAAaaaarrgggghhhh!

Holding Onto Home

In my industry there tends to be a high chance of layoffs and studio closures. Very unexpectedly you can find yourself looking outside your State, Province, and even country for your next job. This makes it difficult to commit to big lifetime purchases like houses and hard to put down local roots in an area. It also makes it hard to keep relationships with people that can’t or don’t want to move. So you can feel like a "temp person" everywhere you go. In the past I have also lost my home, friends, and relationships due to studio layoff as have most in the game industry. This experience was much more difficult than I expected. Close friends become long distance friends, the house you raised your children in now needs a quick sale because you need to leave. Your kids are pulled from their schools and friends and you really have little choice.

It would seem however that working in a tech driven industry your physical location shouldn’t be such an issue. Video conferences are commonplace, instant message services and email keep everyone constantly connected, work can be securely sent online. Is there really a need for a physical workplace anymore? When working in LA on Return to Castle Wolfenstein our AI programmer lived in Australia , and that was back in 2001. Certainly business and security has evolved since then.

I would love to see more companies like Hinterlands which have a headquarters but allow people to live wherever they want in the world without being forced to a physical location. Being forced into or just wanting to make a career change shouldn’t cost you your house and relationships. Game developers want to have normal lives like everyone else. We also want a place to confidently call home.

- Chad