◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek July 27, 202016
Five brothers started Ubisoft Entertainment SA in
1986, and since then the video game company has
survived seven generations of game consoles, four
recessions, a hostile takeover bid from France’s larg-
est media conglomerate, and a global pandemic.
Ubisoft is one of the world’s largest game publish-
ers, with blockbuster series such as Assassin’s Creed
and Far Cry, and the Guillemot family still maintains
effective control. Now they face a new crisis: allega-
tions of widespread sexual misconduct at the com-
pany. The situation has shaken up the founders’
inner circle and raised major concerns about how
the business was managed for well over a decade.
More than a dozen people made public claims
of sexual harassment and abuse against employees
of Ubisoft over the past few weeks. The outpour-
ing is part of a broader #MeToo movement taking
hold in the game industry, and the Parisian company
has been the most frequent target of allegations.
Interviews with more than three dozen current or
former Ubisoft employees indicate that these claims,
and many others that haven’t previously come to
light, had been gathering dust in company logs for
years. In some instances, Ubisoft took action, but
for the most part, complaints were ignored, mishan-
dled, or undermined, employees say.
The accusations filed to Ubisoft’s human
resources department range from subtle forms
of sexism to sexual assault, according to two peo-
ple with access to the reports. In interviews with
Bloomberg Businessweek, many employees detailed
an atmosphere that was hostile to women, often
describing the Paris headquarters as a frat house.
Staff openly made misogynist or racist comments
across the publisher’s various offices, and senior
executives took part and escalated the misconductin the form of inappropriate touching or other sex-
ual advances, current and former employees say.
A spokesperson for Ubisoft declined to comment
or arrange interviews for this story. Chief Executive
Officer Yves Guillemot has promised extensive
changes and has taken steps that many staff once
saw as unlikely. Those include the ousters of Serge
Hascoët, chief creative officer and a close friend of
Guillemot’s for decades, and the heads of HR and
the Canadian studios. The former executives didn’t
respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Ubisoft has fallen short in its obligation to guar-
antee a safe and inclusive workplace environment
for its employees,” Guillemot said in a July 12 state-
ment announcing the executive departures. “This
is unacceptable, as toxic behaviors are in direct
contrast to values on which I have never compro-
mised—and never will. I am committed to imple-
menting profound changes across the company to
improve and strengthen our workplace culture.”
Guillemot, the middle brother, has been CEO
since 1988; together, the siblings hold 21% of the
company’s stock and 5 of 12 board seats. The broth-
ers speak weekly and hold regular get-togethers
on their yacht, according to a 2016 article on the
French newswire AFP. The image of Ubisoft as
a family business was a source of inspiration for
many employees over the years. But others say the
dynamic facilitated a culture in which longtime
staff, especially Hascoët and his team, were given
agency to misbehave. “There are golden children,”
says Cindy Fitzpatrick, who worked in Ubisoft’s
public-relations department from 2005 to 2009.
“No matter what they do, they seem untouchable.”
Several employees say they were pleasantly
surprised, even shocked, by the company’s swift“You complain
about
something, it
just gets swept
under the rug”◀ The Tom Clancy-
inspired Ghost Recon
series of games ranks
among Ubisoft’s most
enduring franchises