Ubisoft claims💦 to have taken a number of steps to address the harassment allegations it has faced since last year. As part of these steps, it brought in a new head of diversity and chief workplace officer, hired a third party firm to review employee complaints, introduced a portal to report incidents, and even let go of some of the accused. However a few current and ex-emജployees claim that their complaints are still going nowhere.
In a lengthy interview with , Valerie (a pseudonym to protect the source's identity) narrated multiple disturbing stories of her time with Ubisoft and how none of their complaints were ever followed up on. “I wish that I could have continued my Ubisoft journey, but I was really affected by all the harassment, discriminaton, and toxicity I encountered and how it was handled,” she said. “I really hope that the situation will get better for Ubisoft, but they are not there yet.”
Valerie's statements raise questions about the new processes that Ubisoft has put into place, and if the company is actually dedicated to creating a safe and accepting work environment. Kotaku spoke to a number of employees who have claimed that these processes feel like "navigating a maze to nowhere".
The publication received testimonials from a number of former employees via ABetterUbisoft, a group formed by current and ex Ubisoft employees calling for a change in the industry. The testimonials shared horrifying st𒈔ories of sexual harassment, racism, discriminatory pay, and abusers getting rewarded rather than reprimanded. Each of them had followed the processes created by the management but never received any follow up.
“I suddenly began to understand the response some veteran Ubisoft devs gave me when I tried to recruit them to come forward [about similar issues],” said an ex employee. “It was always some variation of, ‘Same thing happens every few years, I’ve reported X number of things, with witnesses and proof and either nothing was done or person X was promoted or moved.’ It’s sad, and if i𝄹t’s an intentional way of burying this stuff, it’s working.”
CEO and co-founder Yves Guillemot seems commited to changing things within the company, but it's going to take a lot more than mere processes and promises to weed out the toxic culture.