The Superior Court of Quebec has become involved in the Montreal dust-up between Ubisoft and THQ.
Ubisoft has been granted an injunction to prevent THQ’s new Montreal studio from poaching any more of Ubisoft Montreal’s talent. An official statement from Ubisoft reads:
“Ubisoft has filed a request before the Superior Court of Québec for injunction orders against THQ Inc. in order to have them comply with the non-solicit clause included in Ubisoft Montreal’s employee work contracts. The Superior Court of Québec has granted the injunctions to the satisfaction of Ubisoft. This procedure aims to protect Ubisoft Montreal in a breach of contract situation, and to defend the long-term financial and creative health of the studio.”
The dispute began when Assassin’s Creed creator Patrice Desilets left Ubisoft back in May. He would eventually land with THQ when the publisher formed a new Montreal studio later in the year, but a non-compete clause prevents Desilets from recruiting Ubisoft employees until one year after his departure. However, THQ has since scored some more of Ubisoft Montreal’s major talent – Assassin’s Creed artistic director Alex Drouin, production manager Mark Besner, and associate producer Jean-Francois Boivin have all joined THQ – and their previous connections with Desilets raised a few eyebrows at Ubisoft. All four men have Montreal Canadians season tickets, and THQ core games boss Danny Bilson has said that Boivin, Besner, and Drouin were all hired at the behest of Desilets. The latest injunction bars THQ from hiring any other former Ubisoft developers.
Source: Game Informer
