Ubisoft bids for injunction as key Splinter Cell developers move to EA

French publisher 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.

The five developers named in the injunction all left Ubisoft during July in order to go and work at EA's new Montreal studio - but according to Ubisoft, their contracts contained a clause forbidding them to work for any other North American games studio for one year after leaving the company.

This clause is now likely to be tested in court, and although we were unable to find any specific Canadian case law relating to this type of clause, it does seem that the weight of the law internationally is strongly against this sort of behaviour on the part of a publisher.

It's likely that a judge will give Ubisoft two options - either throwing the case out entirely, or forcing the company to continue paying the ex-employees as a form of paid holiday for the time period covered by their non-competing clause, as is the standard practice in many other industries such as banking.

Ubisoft's moves in this regard seem incredibly heavy-handed, effectively attempting to prevent its ex-employees from continuing with a career in their chosen field - but insiders at the company suggest that this has less to do with a concern over any particular trade secrets being leaked, and more to do with a desperate attempt to stem the flow of key staff out of its Montreal offices.

When Ubisoft set up shop in Montreal, it was the only development studio in the area, a factor which some ex-staff claim led it to believe that it could offer salaries and benefits which don't compete strongly with other studios elsewhere. However, the arrival of new studios in Montreal, combined with the stellar success of Splinter Cell - which has put Ubisoft Montreal employees in high demand - is allegedly causing staffing headaches for the company, and threatens to decimate the Splinter Cell team further - hence this legal action.

For its part, EA - a company which, all other considerations aside, is noted for generally treating its employees very well - is openly furious with Ubisoft's actions, which are presumably preventing five new EA Montreal staff from commencing work properly.