At the heart of a scandal of sexual assault and harassment, Ubisoft announced last night in a press release a major reshuffle of its management. Serge Hascoët (creative director) and Cécile Cornet (human resources manager) resigned from their positions, while Yannis Mallat (director of Ubisoft studios in Canada) left office and left the company.
Departures “which follow a rigorous review that the company has conducted in response to recent allegations and accusations of misconduct and inappropriate behavior”. Precisely, Serge Hascoët, considered number 2 of Ubisoft, a “chosen to resign from his position as Chief Creative Officer with immediate effect”. This role will be taken over “in the interim” by CEO Yves Guillemot, who will also supervise “a complete overhaul of the method of collaboration between creative teams”. The communicated remains unclear on this point, but according to Bloomberg, Serge Hascoët would leave the company, not just his job. He joined him in 1988 and held the position of creative director, central in the process of creating Ubisoft games, since 2000.
Regarding Yannis Mallat, director of Canadian studios at Ubisoft, the “leaves office and society with immediate effect”. “Recent allegations made in Canada against many employees do not allow him to continue to assume his responsibilities”, explains the press release. Finally, Ubisoft will “to appoint a new human resources manager to replace Cécile Cornet, who has decided to resign from this position, in the interest of the group’s unity”. The firm promises to “restructure and strengthen the HR function in order to adapt it to the new challenges facing the video game industry” and will do “audit and improve its procedures and policies” in the matter.
Updated by Clementoss, on July 12, 2020 at 11:33:06 AM
Ubisoft clarified to the newspaper Le Figaro that Cécile Cornet resigns from her position, but does not leave the company.
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Earlier this week, new investigations by Numerama and Release shed light on internal company issues globally. Many employees and ex-employees have denounced acts of sexism, homophobia, harassment or even sexual assaults and a toxic “virile” corporate culture maintained by certain executives, themselves protected by their hierarchy and by human resources. .
The departures of Serge Hascoët and Cécile Cornet were requested on Saturday July 11 by the Ubisoft Paris section of the Solidaires Informatique union, in one leaflet online containing testimonials from employees. On July 4, a week after the appearance of the first accusations on social networks, Yves Guillemot had announced the resignation of Maxime Béland and the layoff of Tommy François, both vice-presidents of the editorial, after having promised the eve of “fundamental changes” within the company. He said again:
Ubisoft has not been able to guarantee its employees a safe and inclusive working environment. It’s not acceptable. All toxic behavior is in total opposition to the values with which I have never compromised and with which I will not compromise. More than ever, I am determined to implement profound changes in order to improve and strengthen our corporate culture. While we collectively commit to building a better Ubisoft, I expect all managers in the group to support their teams with the utmost respect. I also expect them to set out to lead this necessary change, with what is best for Ubisoft and all its collaborators. Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft.
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By Clementoss, Editing jeuxvideo.com
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