Maxime Béland, vice chairman of Ubisoft’s Editorial division, has resigned following allegations that he assaulted a feminine worker whereas he was inventive director at Ubisoft Toronto. Ubisoft’s Editorial group oversee a imaginative and prescient and total course for the corporate’s games. Béland was one of many folks named through the latest weeks of public sexual harassment and abuse accusations in opposition to Ubisoft workers in addition to throughout the trade. In response, Ubisoft final week vowed to make “fundamental changes” to enhance.
“Maxime Béland, Vice President Editorial, has resigned from his role at Ubisoft, effective immediately,” Ubisoft confirmed in a press release to The Verge.
“Despite his resignation, we continue to investigate the allegations made against him. Additionally, effective as of yesterday, Tommy François, Vice President Editorial & Creative Services, has been placed on disciplinary leave pending the outcome of an investigation. One other individual in our Toronto studio has been terminated for engaging in behaviors that do not align with what is expected of Ubisoft employees. Other investigations are ongoing and will be conducted rigorously.”
As Kotaku reported, the alleged incident was at a 2014 celebration celebrating the launch of Far Cry 4, which Ubisoft Toronto helped on. According to the previous worker, whereas she was speaking with Béland on the celebration, he mentioned “Do you know what she likes?” then put his fingers round her neck and squeezed, which she likened to a “creepy demonstration.”
Other workers reported disagreeable interactions with Béland too. Compounding all that is that Ubisoft Toronto’s interim head of HR was married to him.
In Thursday’s open letter to workers, a part of CEO Yves Guillemot’s plan to deal with the corporate’s drawback was to “revise the composition of the Editorial Department”. Some workers had beforehand complained about the group’s lack of range, which Ubisoft mentioned they agreed with.
The previous few weeks have seen a whole bunch of accusations of made in opposition to streamers, builders, and media in video games and past, in tabletop gaming and comics and extra too. While many accusations have targeted on Ubisoft, don’t take this to imply they’re the one firm with issues.
