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Ubisoft employees’ open letter targets “empty promises” after allegations of toxicity

An open letter signed by close to 500 current and former Ubisoft employees has slammed “empty promises” made by the company in the wake of allegations of a toxic workplace culture.

A wave of senior employees left Ubisoft back in 2020 after allegations of sexual abuse and harrassment. They included Yannis Mallat, managing director of Ubisoft’s Canada-based studios, Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët, Global Head of HR Cécile Cornet, VP of Editorial Maxime Beland, and Creative Director of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Ashraf Ismail.

Today’s open letter was penned in solidarity with employees of Activision Blizzard, who are reacting to similar allegations themselves, but goes on to condemn what’s happened at Ubisoft since.

“We hear you and want to loudly declare our solidarity with you. Over the past week, the games industry has once again been rocked by revelations that have long been known by too many of us. Revelations that a year ago many were hearing about Ubisoft,” the open letter begins (via Axion’s Stephen Totilo).

“It is clear, from the frequency of these reports, that there is a widespread and deeply ingrained culture of abusive behaviours within the industry,” it continues. “It should no longer be a surprise to anyone: employees, executives, journalists, or fans that these heinous acts are going on. It is time to stop being shocked. We must demand real steps be taken to prevent them. Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions.”

The letter than directly addresses Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s response to allegations of a toxic workplace, in which he previously stated, “Ubisoft has fallen short in its obligation to guarantee a safe and inclusive workplace environment for its employees. This is unacceptable, as toxic behaviors are in direct contrast to values on which I have never compromised — and never will.” Guillemot later said he would “do everything in [his] power to ensure that everyone… feels welcomed, respected, and safe.”

“We, the undersigned, have had enough,” the open letter says in response. “It has been over a year since the first revelations of systemic discrimination, harassment and bullying within Ubisoft came out. At the time, you acted surprised to hear of these acts going on within your own company and we gave you the benefit of the doubt. However, we have seen nothing more than a year of kind words, empty promises, and an inability or unwillingness to remove known offenders. We no longer trust your commitment to address these issues at their core. You need to do more.

“That does not mean more training sessions that go ignored by the people who need them most, and that does not mean more reassurances and kind words. It means real, impactful action. The only way to fix something so ingrained is to remove the pillars that are complicit with it, be it actively taking part or by supporting it. This is not only a matter of process, focus groups, PR management or education. This is a matter of people’s lives, their mental and physical health. By choosing profit over our security you are literally toying with our lives. We should not have to choose between work and our safety.”

Ubisoft has released a statement (also via Totilo) in reply to the open letter.

“We want to be very clear that we take this letter – and the issues it raises – very seriously,” the statement reads. “Over the past year, we have committed to engaging with our employees to enact fundamental change. Many of these changes have been driven by internal feedback and insights shared by our teams and we are grateful for this ongoing communication.”

We’ll keep you informed as this situation progresses.


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Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.