EA slams Ubi Soft – amazing handbag action inside

Ubi Soft has brought legal action against five former employees of its Montreal Studio, charging them with breaching non-compete clauses in their contracts.

The five, who formerly worked on the Splinter Cell project, left Ubi Soft to take up roles at EA’s studio in the city.

According to records of court, the Ubi Soft contract states that any ex-employee cannot work for any other North American games firm for a year following termination of employment.

And Electronic Arts, the firm that has cannily hired the ex-Ubi Softers, is not at all happy about it. Check this rant from EA’s vice president of corporate communications, Geoff Brown:

“This legal action basically destroys their careers. They either have to move out of Montreal or work at McDonald's for a year. It seems that Ubi Soft thinks of Montreal as a plantation - any worker who dares to escape the Ubi Soft plantation will be hunted down by lawyers and forced out of business.”

Wow! A good point, well made. However, it’s always worth remembering that EA doesn’t exactly leave a trail of contented and fairly-treated ex-employees in its wake…

More handbag-swinging nonsense from the games industry soon, we don't doubt.