Yesterday, Ubisoft announced that its editorial VP Tommy Francois had left the french publisher amid the ongoing investigations into the company’s history of sexual misconduct. Following a string of allegations against him, Francois supposedly stepped down to avoid any further repercussions from his actions. That doesn’t appear to be the full story, however.
A new report from Gamasutra suggests that Ubisoft actually fired Francois earlier this week. While sources close to this story didn’t reveal themselves (the game industry loves to punish whistleblowers), their words paint a very different picture than what Ubisoft would have you believe.
According to these claims, Francois was terminated without cause and was not handed a financial settlement. Reportedly, he has been suspended from the company since July. The investigation must have turned up something ugly, otherwise, he would still be working for the publisher. Francois will retain the shares in Ubisoft he had previously acquired but will be barred from making any future acquisitions within the company.
As Gamasutra states, there are certain French laws that prevent Ubisoft from labeling the recent string of departures as dismissals or firings. This includes Francois’ resignation and Maxime Beland, another executive that has a history of being a misogynist and sexual abuser. He, along with Francois, made up the editorial team at Ubisoft.
Employees at the company are reportedly taking these changes very well. Gamasutra was told that the staff is happy with the changes being made, even if some are still skeptical that anything substantial will stick. Along with abusers being outed during the recent string of allegations, it has come to light that basically every Ubisoft studio around the globe has fostered a toxic work culture. That’s the biggest change employees want to see addressed.
To that end, some are fighting for the company to hire from a more diverse background of applicants. That should help combat the string of ugliness that permeates throughout Ubisoft’s walls. With the most powerful abusers finally removed from the company, there is a great chance their wishes will be answered. We can only hope some positive change comes from all of this.
Source: Gamasutra
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