Back in 2020, Ubisoft was rocked by a series of reports alleging widespread workplace toxicity and harassment, leading to the departure of numerous high-ranking members of the publisher’s management team and many lower-level employees simply fed up with conditions at the company. Since then, the behind-the-scenes issues at Ubisoft have faded from the headlines somewhat, but it seems the authorities in France have not let the issue drop.
According to a story in the French newspaper Libération, at least five former Ubisoft executives have been arrested for questioning in regards to what could be an eventual criminal trial. Those detained include Serge Hascoet, who once ran Ubisoft’s powerful editorial group that planned and controlled the content of all games published by the company. Also arrested was Hascoet’s protégé Tommy Francois.
While we’ve heard about rampant frat boy behavior and abuse of power within Ubisoft, it seems French authorities are prepared to level more serious charges, accusing the company of fostering “systemic sexual violence.” One new allegation printed by Libération is that Tommy Francois once had employees restrain a female employee at a company party so he could forcibly kiss her, something that was later brushed off when brought up to managers.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has made repeated promises to fix the company’s toxic culture, but last year the “A Better Ubisoft” collective said little had been done to address demands made in an open letter signed by hundreds of employees, including such things as…
- Stop promoting and moving known offenders from studio to studio, team to team, without repercussions. This cycle needs to end.
- We want a collective seat at the table, to have a meaningful say in how Ubisoft as a company moves forward from here.
- Cross-industry collaboration to agree on a set of ground rules and processes that all studios can use to handle offenses in the future.
- This collaboration must heavily involve employees in non-management positions and union representatives.
When asked to respond to the arrest of Hascoet and others, a Ubisoft spokesperson insisted the company has “no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”
