Ubisoft is the third largest publisher of video games. – K. Djanzesian / AFP
- Anonymous testimonies from employees or ex-employees of Ubisoft, relating to harassment and sexual assault, were published on Wednesday on Twitter.
- “What is denounced on social networks is unfortunately not something new. We have all heard of these kinds of stories, but today all that can no longer remain silent, “explains to 20 Minutes an employee of the French studio, on condition of anonymity.
- Ubisoft management reacted and announced the night of Thursday to Friday the opening of several internal investigations.
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Speech becomes free, and languages are untied on Twitter… For the past week, the video game industry is shaken by a wave of accusations: dozens of women told stories of discrimination on social networks,
harassment or sexual assault
in this still very masculine environment.
Directly targeted by several young women, Ubisoft, one of the world’s heavyweights in video games, announced the opening of several internal investigations. Anonymous testimonies of employees or ex-employees of the French group have been published
on Twitter this Wednesday, targeting by name executives from two studios in Canada, and denouncing facts in Bulgaria and the United States, sometimes going back several years.
“A systemic problem for Ubisoft”
One of them, who is in charge of a Ubisoft division abroad, is thus accused of rape by a video game professional. In a long message published last Monday, she recounts what she went through six years ago and says she wants to speak guilty today, after hearing other similar stories about the same individual.
@DennyVonDoom, a “streamer” known in the industry, denounced him on the social network a “systemic problem for Ubisoft” and claims to have received testimonies concerning the offices or studios of the company in Sweden, Brazil and
in Paris, which he intends to publish soon. “Drunk and enraged”, a Toronto creative director “strangled an employee at a” Far Cry “party,” one of Ubisoft’s most famous franchises, he said, adding that the head of the studio in question was aware and “did nothing”.
My experience with sexual assault (TW: rape)
Read: https://t.co/AAOnZKoKa7
— Kate J. ????️???? #BlackLivesMatter (@KateNV_) June 22, 2020
The creative director of a studio would have “licked the face” of an employee
Other testimonies denounce an industry “incredibly toxic to women”. An ex-employee says that a colleague asked her for a blowjob during a party while she was still working at her office, others relate that such a creative director of the Montreal studio “licked the face” of a collaborator at another company party. “I was teased when I went to my boss to tell him about my problems,” said one.
Some testimonies also denounce a sexist atmosphere and homophobic in a company studio in Sofia (Bulgaria). Another testimony, published by a former employee under his own name, denounces facts of sexual harassment by another Ubisoft manager abroad.
I’ve been debating about typing this out, and i was going to do so anonymously, but fuck it.
Gregg Baker, Community Developer at Ubisoft, has sexually harrassed women. pic.twitter.com/5THlrm2lRw
— John Lloyd ????️???? (@Seraxia) June 23, 2020
“All this can no longer remain in silence”
“What is denounced on social media is unfortunately not something new. We have all heard of these kinds of stories, but today all that can no longer remain silent, “explains to 20 Minutes an employee of the French studio, who wishes to remain anonymous. ”
Very few women dare to raise the issue publicly. So we talk about it “between us”, and that’s when we understand that this kind of thing happens to a lot of people “, explained to us a few months ago Zoé, who also works in a large French game studio video.
“Most of the time, these facts are simply denied and ignored. In the best of cases, the studios will claim to be inclusive, make public declarations, but without them being followed by concrete measures, while continuing to protect the predators who evolve within them, most often in high-ranking positions. “Also explained to 20 Minutes the Union of Video Game Workers (STJV).
Several internal investigations opened
Ubisoft, one of the most important publishers in the world of video games, with franchises such as “Assassin’s Creed”, announced on the night of Thursday to Friday
the opening of several internal investigations “With the support of specialized external consultants”. “We are sincerely sorry. We are committed to creating an inclusive and safe environment for our teams, our players and our communities. It is clear today that we have not succeeded in achieving this objective, ”admits the editor in a press release.
“Depending on the conclusions [de ces enquêtes], we are committed to taking all appropriate disciplinary measures, ”writes the company. “We also audit our existing policies, procedures and systems to understand where they have failed, and to ensure that we can better prevent, detect and punish inappropriate behavior,” she said.
An update from Ubisoft.
– Ubisoft (@Ubisoft) June 25, 2020
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