Ghost Recon and Raven Shield publisher Ubi Soft slipped under our radar when they fired an injunction in the direction of Electronic Arts back in September this year. The recent result of the court case did not escape us however, as Ubi Soft have won their case in a surprising result that has disappointed many in the games industry.
As explained at Game Industry.biz back in September…
“Ubisoft has applied for an injunction to prevent key staff who worked on the Splinter Cell project from taking new jobs with Electronic Arts, a move which it claims breaks a clause in their contracts”
This move by Ubi Soft was prompted by the defection of 5 developers to Electronic Arts, a move that Ubi Soft maintained broke a clause in their conditions of employment, even though they left Ubi Soft months before.
According to this weblog, Ubi Soft’s case was upheld recently in a judgement at the Qu�bec Court of Appeal when they found in favour of the company.
Quite why so many of the development team were so keen to leave Ubi Soft is not known. Another high profile developer to leave this year of course was John Sonedecker, who is now employed as Creative Director with relative newcomers Battleborne. Ghost Recon fans will of course remember Battleborne for their excellent Ghost Recon mod released back in May 2002, and they are now working on a new console game!
