Ubisoft have conceded they “must do better” to create an “inclusive and safe environment for our teams, players, and communities”, following a number of allegations of sexual abuse, office harrassment and violence, and extra towards quite a few workers. The firm declare they may examine accusations, and self-discipline individuals as essential. Amongst this, the artistic director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla has stepped down following an allegation about his private life.
The previous week has seen an outpouring of allegations of sexual harrassment, sexual assault, predatory behaviour, bodily violence, abuse, bullying, discrimination, and extra towards dozens of video game steamers, YouTubers, builders, and press. As extra converse, extra really feel emboldened to talk themselves, with some allegations going again years. It has been a mass public venting of grievances that communities and fanbases.
Allegations towards Ubisoft employees in workplaces and at occasions got here from each colleagues and members of the general public. One advertising supervisor was accused of rape. One artistic director was accused of choking a feminine worker. Another PR individual was accused of being a sexual predator. Several former Ubisoft workers mentioned they had been harassed and bullied at work. A former Ubisoft Sofia worker mentioned the studio was rife with racist and homophobic jokes. These are solely among the allegations. Several complained that Ubisoft HR appeared to do nothing about it.
The accusation towards AC Valhalla’s artistic director is much less extreme than many, to be clear, and pertains to an extramarital affair. In an announcement on his now-deleted Twitter account, Motherboard report, he apologised and mentioned “I am stepping down from my beloved project to properly deal with the personal issues in my life. The lives of my family and my own are shattered.” Ubisoft confirmed that he was taking a go away of absence.
Without addressing or admitting any particular allegations, Ubisoft have apologised and mentioned they want to change.
“We want to start by apologising to everyone affected by this – we are truly sorry. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive and safe environment for our teams, players, and communities. It is clear we have fallen short of this in the past. We must do better,” they mentioned in Thursday’s statement.
“We have started by launching investigations into the allegations with the support of specialised external consultants. Based on the outcomes, we are fully committed to taking any and all appropriate disciplinary action. As these investigations are ongoing, we can’t comment further. We are also auditing our existing policies, processes, and systems to understand where these have broken down, and to ensure we can better prevent, detect, and punish inappropriate behaviour.”
Now they’ve to truly do it. Public statements imply nothing. Change takes critical effort and a willingness to upend their established order.
League Of Legends builders Riot Games vowed to wash up their act following 2018’s revelations of office discrimination and harrassment. They’ve talked quite a bit about their adjustments since then, and a few of of their intentions sound genuinely good. At the identical time, Riot have made statements brushing over the past. The punishment for one government accused of humping colleagues, farting of their face, and hitting their genitals was reportedly solely coaching and two months’ unpaid go away. And it took a staff walkout for them to lastly settle a discrimination lawsuit they’d tried to close down. Only this month, an government (who’s since left) introduced disgrace on them once more with a vile Facebook post concerning the killing of George Floyd. And that is from an organization who’ve loudly and clearly said an intent to vary and put hundreds of thousands of {dollars} into associated causes. What’ve you bought, Ubisoft?
