So far, Ubisoft has been taking measures to address the issue. Several of the employees hit with the allegations have either left the company or been fired, such as PR director Stone Chin. However, people are asking how Ubisoft allowed such actions to happen in the first place.

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During an earnings call, investors saw an opportunity to question Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot about his level of responsibility, with one pointing out that he either didn’t know about what was happening at all, didn’t know enough and wasn’t asking questions, or did know and turned a blind eye.

Guillemot responded with:

His wording seems to suggest that he was unaware of what his employees were doing, but the response has been met with criticism, with some saying that his answer is “evasive” and “unsatisfying.”

Guillemot also reiterated how the company would be ensuring to prevent things like this from happening again. It has already begun transforming its HR process and will introduce mandatory training on harassment matters, as well as a new Code of Conduct for all employees to read and sign.

Chief Financial Officer Frederick Duguet also seemed to address criticisms regarding reports that employees had to fight against the company for more diverse protagonists in their games. For example, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s Kassandra was meant to be the sole protagonist, but Ubisoft rejected it because “women don’t sell.”

Duguet listed off a number of protagonists from across Ubisoft’s titles, including the aforementioned Kassandra and Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, as proof that the publisher cares about diversity in its games.

Given the stories from former employees, like the aforementioned Kassandra one and the voice actress for Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Evie admitting she also had to deal with sexism while working on the game, Duguet’s words do come across as rather hollow.

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Source: GamesIndustry.biz