Over the last year, Ubisoft has seen a number of allegations of misconduct and harassment. French publication Le Telegramme reports that legal proceedings against Ubisoft brought by worker's union Solidaires Informatique Jeu Video are set to begin later this month, but there are still significant problems at the video game publisher. Ubisoft has apparently tried to make changes, but those changes haven't had much of an impact at this point. Unfortunately, several people accused of harassment remain with the company, including Florent Castelnerac and Hugues Ricour. There have also been several issues with Ubisoft's HR department. While the company's director of HR is being replaced, there's skepticism it won't change much.

In the months since the allegations came to light, 20,000 employees and managers have received training in regards to harassment and sexual misconduct. Despite this, a source told GamesIndustry.biz, that it seems like there's a desire to "leave the crisis from summer 2020 behind," but there's still much that needs to be done at the company. The outlet reached out to Ubisoft for comment on the reports from Le Telegramme, and a representative told GamesIndustry.biz that major changes have been made, and more are in the works.

"Additional initiatives are underway and are being rolled out over the coming months. We are committed to strengthening our culture and values in the long term, to help ensure every team member at Ubisoft is heard, respected and valued in the workplace," the representative told GamesIndustry.biz.

Ubisoft is one of the biggest video game publishers in Europe, with several subsidiaries around the globe. Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallat left the company last July following several reports of misconduct. He was replaced by Christophe Derennes. According to Le Telegramme "nothing has changed" since the shake-up, and there have actually been new reports of harassment since.

Last summer saw several other high-profile departures from Ubisoft following reports of sexual misconduct and harassment, including Maxime Belland, and Tommy Francois. At the time, Ubisoft pledged to audit "existing policies, processes, and systems to understand where these have broken down, and to ensure we can better prevent, detect, and punish inappropriate behavior."

To learn more about what you can do to prevent sexual violence, please consider donating to RAINN or visit RAINN's website for a number of resources. If you or a loved one has suffered because of sexual violence, contact RAINN's National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline.



Posted: May 23, 2021 8:49 am
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/ubisoft-employees-say-toxic-culture-hasnt-changed/