In a statement released on Sunday July 12, Ubisoft announced that three of the company’s executives were resigning, including one from the company. This decision comes on the eve of the expected conference of the company, and after several investigations by Liberation and Numerama on the internal problems of the company.
The press release was published at 1 a.m., French time, by Ubisoft: Serge Hascoët (creative director and considered number 2 of the company) and Cécile Cornet (World HR director) both resigned from their positions, while Yannis Mallat (director of Ubisoft studios in Canada) resigned and left the company.
It is not officially specified whether the first two will also leave Ubisoft, or will remain in the company. The company would however have specified to Bloomberg News that Serge Hascoët also resigned from Ubisoft, and not only from his position.
« Ubisoft today announced significant management changes. These changes are an integral part of the Company’s overall work to improve and strengthen its corporate culture. “, States the press release. ” The departures announced today follow a rigorous review that the company has conducted in response to recent allegations and accusations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior. »
Very important resignations
Since July 1, Liberation and Numerama have published several investigations into internal dysfunctions at Ubisoft, at the French and global level, in which many employees and ex-employees denounce acts of sexism, homophobia, sexist and sexual harassment, attempted sexual assault, which would not have been taken seriously by certain managers and HR. Serge Hascoët, creative director very recognized in the world of video games, considered as the right arm of CEO Yves Guillemot, was notably mentioned on numerous occasions as having closed his eyes, even encouraged this misogynistic and stuffy environment.
Liberation had hit the nail on July 11, with new revelations, this time also concerning certain supposed actions of the World Director of Human Resources.
“Ubisoft has not been able to guarantee its employees a safe and inclusive environment. “
Although Ubisoft had repeatedly announced new measures to address these accusations, many of our internal sources believed that Ubisoft’s number 2 was ” untouchable And would never leave the company. It is therefore both a very strong and surprising announcement for the multinational, which has 14,000 employees in 40 studios around the world. The role of creative director will be taken up “in the interim” by Yves Guillemot himself.
This is a *huge* deal for Ubisoft. Serge Hascoet was the man in charge of ALL of their games. With one word he could greenlight or cancel a project. Many Ubisoft employees believed he was too powerful and close to the CEO to ever be ousted, no matter how many allegations emerged
– Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 11, 2020
« Ubisoft has not been able to guarantee its employees a safe and inclusive environment. It’s not acceptable “Writes Yves Guillemot at the end of the press release. ” While we collectively commit to building a better Ubisoft, I expect all managers in the group to support their teams with the utmost respect. »
Earlier in the day on July 11, the Ubisoft Paris section of the Solidaires Informatique union had called for resignation by Serge Hascoët and Céline Cornet.
Sunday July 12 at 9:00 pm will be held the much-awaited “UbiForward” conference from Ubisoft; it is a safe bet that the recent upheavals will be tackled by Yves Guillemot from the start of the event.
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