Alleged Talent Thieving Leads to Injunction Against THQ

A court in Quebec has granted Ubisoft an injunction preventing THQ from violating the non-solicit clauses of Ubisoft Montreal's employees. This development comes after a number of employees at theAssassin's Creedstudio departed from the company under suspicious circumstances.

After leaving Ubisoft Montreal last year, it wasannouncedin October that Assassin's Creed creative director Patrice Désilets would be heading up a new Montreal-based studio for THQ beginning in May. Since then, several other Ubisoft Montreal staffers have departed the company for various reasons that have raised some eyebrows,Game Informerreports.

Désilets isn't joining THQ Montreal until this May, following the expiration of a one-year non-compete clause. Three employees who left Ubisoft Montreal in his wake have Montreal Canadiens season tickets with Désilets, which makes you wonder if their decision to all leave was a coincidence. Keep inmind that his non-compete clause should have prevented Désilets from being able to recruit his former colleagues.

THQ core games boss Danny Bilson spoke withJoystiqin January about THQ Montreal, and some choice words of his could end up leading to trouble for his company. He said,"I don't think I can talk about the other three people we've already contracted because I wouldn't ... I just know Patrice said, 'I need these three guys.' And I said 'Okay! Whatever you need!' We put all of them on retention and got them started on their non-competes. I kind of know what their roles are, but they were the most important people to Patrice. All three of them are Ubi."

An injunction was granted by a judge in January. Despite that, another Ubisoft staffer was contacted about a potential employment opportunity at THQ by localization manager Adolfo Gomez-Urda. This latest injunction, which was first reported by French siteRue Frontenac, now includes Gomez-Urda in addition to THQ and Désilets.

This is quite a rocky start for THQ Montreal, and Désilets won't even officially start work there for another two months. The interview in January wasn't the first time Bilson had hinted at grabbing friends of Désilets' for the new studio;speakingwith 1UP last year, he said,"Now, combined with building out this huge facility in Montreal, with the {financial} advantage, and getting that kind of talent who lives here in it, and all his friends live here, we should be able to build out an incredible veteran team to anchor this studio."

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