UPDATE 7/3/2020 9:20 PM: Editorial vice president Maxime Beland has resigned from Ubisoft after being suspended over allegations of assault and harassment.
UPDATE 9/10/2020 2:05 PM: Added statement from Ubisoft's CEO on what the company is currently doing to combat abuse.
UPDATE 9/25 2020 4:30 PM: Former Ubisoft lead Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil, has been accused of abusive workplace behavior by French journalists less than a week after Ancel announced his retirement from game development.
UPDATE 11/18/2020 7:27 PM: Hugues Ricour, managing director of Ubisoft’s Singapore studio, has been ousted from his role as Skull & Bones' director (but not from the company) after a "leadership audit." He was removed from his position following an internal investigation that uncovered multiple accusations of sexual harassment and demeaning behavior.
Allegations of sexual abuse and harassment have rocked the gaming industry recently, and unfortunately, Ubisoft has not been immune from the criticism. There are have been various allegations made against the company, with some employees being specifically called out by name for allegedly inappropriate behavior.
Countless figures in the gaming industry have recently been accused of misconduct. Similarly to Ubisoft, Insomniac Games has had a series of abuse allegations leveled at them by former employees. The same goes for RPG writer Chris Avellone as well as well-known streamers such as Tom Cassell and Joe Vargas, all of whom have been accused of predatory behavior.
It remains unclear what Ubisoft plans to do about the allegations, or whether any of the employees accused of predatory behavior will lose their positions permanently as a result. What is clear, however, is that many individuals in the industry are demanding a change and turning to social media to voice their concerns.
Ubisoft Employees Who Were Called Out
Several Ubisoft employees have had abuse allegations launched against them in just this month alone. This week, Andrien “Escoblades” Gbinigie, the Product and Brand Marketing Manager for Ubisoft, was accused of sexual harassment and assault by several female employees. Gbinigie has been working with Ubisoft for over eight years, having been directly involved with the production of titles like Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs. However, the allegations against Gbinigie are vast. Kairos Media Senior Account Executive Kathryn “Kate” Johnson was the first to come forward, claiming he groped and raped her at a work-related event in 2014. Johnson’s claims have been backed by various figures in the industry, including Twitch ambassador Hannah Rutherford, who claims to have had similar experiences with Gbinigie.
Upon seeing Johnson’s post via social media, Twitter user @RadderssGaming echoed a similar sentiment, claiming Gbinigie pressured her into sex. "He invited me to Gamescom 2017, to see him, to be with him. Once we were there he was publicly neutral towards me. We had sex,” she wrote. “Immediately after Gamescom he went cold and dropped me. Made me feel insane for thinking we could be more. He used me for sex, I was an easy get." However, Gbinigie has denied the allegations, particularly those leveled by Johnson. “I am writing this to categorically and vehemently deny the allegation of rape leveled against me by Kathryn Johnston,” he wrote in an article posted to Medium. Gbinigie’s defensive article was later taken down by the website for review.
Stone Chin, the Associate Director of Public Relations for Ubisoft, has also been called out for inappropriate behavior, some of which seems to extend as far back as a decade ago. There are multiple allegations against Chin, with the majority alluding to a long history of inappropriate behavior and that Chin has used his position to prey on younger, female employees. Similarly, the Creator Relations at Logitech, Alex Monney, has also been the subject of similar allegations online accusing him of predatory behavior. Community and Influencer Manager for Save the Children US John Sylvester has supported the allegations against both Chin and Monney, The Sixth Axis reports. So far, neither Chin nor Monney has not responded to the controversy. Even Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Creative Director, Ashraf Ismail, recently left his position with Ubisoft after several indiscretions came to light.
More Allegations Against Ubisoft Surface On Twitter
On June 24th, Twitter user @DennyVonDoom exposed several other Ubisoft employees for allegedly engaging in inappropriate behavior or for covering up the actions of their co-workers. He claims to have spoken to employees from "UbiMassive, Ubi Montreal, Ubi Toronto, Ubi Brazil, Ubi San Fransisco, and even their North Carolina location." Denny shared a series of images featuring messages sent directly to him from former female employees claiming misconduct. In one of the messages, it alleges that Alexandre Amancio, the former Creative Director at Ubisoft Montreal, acted inappropriately on several occasions, including licking a woman's face at a party and trying to begin an altercation with another. Denny also claimed he had evidence to support the allegations against Gbinigie.
In another substantial post, Denny references Maxime Beland, the Creative VP at Ubisoft Toronto. Denny claims he has talked to four different employees about Beland’s behaviour, which allegedly includes both sexual harassment and drunken violence. One employee claims he went so far as to choke her. One social media user replied to Denny’s thread in order to point out that Maxime Beland’s wife was in Human Resources when the abuse incidents against him were reported. “His wife was HR at the time, so I don’t imagine the victim had any hope of redress. Time to be accountable Ubisoft, stop protecting and enabling abusers,” @betterthemask wrote. Denny also confirmed what the person wrote, responding, "Not only was Maxime's wife in HR when the aforementioned physical assault took place, she eventually became the co-studio director with an official title of Associate Managing Director."
Former Ubisoft Female Employees Are Speaking Out
The onset of allegations has prompted more former employees to speak out against Ubisoft, particularly on social media. Twitter user @tinyalinah shared a long post explaining the harassment she experience while working in one of Ubisoft’s offices. Without revealing names in the post, she described the inappropriate attention she received from her “team leader” after earning a position with the company at age 20.
She claims their relationship quickly went from professional to romantic, but that she felt uncomfortable and unsure what to do because of his seniority with Ubisoft. “He started to hold my hand in secret, touch me and eventually it proceeded to kissing me, literally French kissing […] He would stop the elevator when we were alone and kiss me,” she wrote. “I was now so far deep in it all that I didn’t know how to tell him that I didn’t want that and continued to humor him.” @Tinyalinah claims she had a boyfriend at the time, whom her team leader knew about, but says her boss continued to try and pursue an inappropriate relationship with her.
In a similar fashion, Twitter user @AlannaMatty, based in Toronto, also shared her negative experiences working for Ubisoft as a female employee. In a long thread, she claimed she worked on the audio team but had issues with the head of the department, without naming names. She alleges her superior would profess his love for her, claim his wife was jealous of them, and would forbid her from talking to co-workers. Perhaps even more shocking, she claims the HR department did little to help improve the situation, leading her to eventually quit. “In response HR told me to stay home for my two weeks as it wasn’t a ‘safe environment’ but tried to convince me not to leave the studio,” she wrote in one of the posts. “Offered to move me to another project. I knew as long as he was there I wouldn’t be welcome so I declined.”
What Ubisoft Is Doing About Abuse
Many big companies and figures in gaming have already issued statements condemning the abuse allegations rocking the industry. Ubisoft, too, has issued their own statement expressing their disappointment and addressing the claims made against their own employees. They also implied they’re launching an investigation, or at the very least, an inquiry in order to see what should happen next.
"We are deeply concerned by these accusations. We take any allegations of abuse or harassment very seriously and we are looking closely into the allegations to determine next steps,” Ubisoft told ScreentRant in a statement. What remains unclear, however, are what these next steps may look like, such as if any disciplinary action will be taken or if new policies may be introduced with the intention of mitigating workplace harassment and abuse. The sexual assault and harassment allegations against Ubisoft are disappointing, but hopefully, the company uses this as an opportunity to implement positive change moving forward.
Update 9/10/2020: Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot released a video message on Twitter ahead of a UbiForward games presentation on what the company is currently doing. Immediately after the video was released, multiple people expressed concerns as to why the video wasn't a part of the proper presentation, and some took issue with Guillemot's claim that the company leaders only found out about abuse "this summer" when reports have previously said it has been going on for years. Ubisoft's statement and response via Twitter is below:
Sources: Gamasutra, The Sixth Axis