Ubisoft granted injunction against THQ's headhunting

A court has awarded Ubisoft an injunction against THQ to prevent the alleged bleeding of talent from the Montreal studio by former employee Patrice Désilets.

Game Informer received an official confirmation and statement on the matter from Ubisoft.

"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," it reads.

"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."

In January, THQ confirmed that three ex-Ubisoft staffers, known to be associates of Désilets, had joined the new studio at Désilets's request.

In the months prior, all three had resigned suddenly from Ubisoft, giving various reasons - none of which was "to work at THQ".

In June 2010, Assassin's Creed series director Patrice Désilets was the first Ubisoft employee to mysteriously vanish from its ranks, so suddenly that appointments with games media - including VG247 - were cancelled without notice.

Désilets is said to have walked away from an impressive salary, and abandoned CAD $600,000 in bonuses related to the Assassin's Creed series sales. Despite this, Ubisoft staff commented that the director had made the right choice.

Four months later, THQ announced it would open a studio in Montreal, with Désilets at its head.

Thanks, 1UP.

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