To be fair, I think you'd see the same vile shit in other countries too. But yeah between Quantic Dreams and Ubisoft...
At least people are speaking out. One can hope it encourages others to do so.
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[Liberation] Sexual harassment at Ubisoft: "We knew". (>100 cases from harassment to rape, half were known to HR, toxicity tolerated with results)
- Thread starter Nightengale
- Start date
At least people are speaking out. One can hope it encourages others to do so.
Ubisoft needs both an inquisition and an exorcism at this point.
Oh yes it should.
I've contacted the Journal de Montréal and Radio-Canada (mainstream media here in Quebec) about this and asked them to request comments from Ubisoft Montreal and do a bit of investigation to make sure none of this gross stuff is happening there. I don't know if anything will come out of it but it beats being silent. Those quotes from Serge Hascoët are absolutely disgusting and I don't want this to get swept under the rug.
Man, fuck Ubisoft. They're turning a blind eye to and perpetuating a culture of harassment; right from the top. Feel like nothing short of the entire upper management stepping down will begin to make this right.
This whole thing is utterly disgusting. I'm especially dismayed to hear how Guillemot turns a blind eye.
Eurogamer wrote an article (well, it is mostly relaying a Twitter thread but that's something):
I do get it why one can't comment on these Eurogamer articles.
This seems like a weird thing to conflate with all of this.
These predators and abusers need to be removed from the industry and held accountable in court. However, what does that have to do with the Vivendi takeover?
Yes. We shouldn't be their mouthpiece and give them any good PR...
I know what I'm about to say is a very small issue compared to everything else, but I'd suggest to ask streamers that we follow not to cover tomorrow's press conference in light of all this.
All of this sounds terrible, I'm immediately skeptical of any organization that shifts the blame to support staff, such as HR. Human Resources has zero power in a corporation. They are essentially administrators, and they don't get to make decisions - managers do and corporate does.
So even if you fire every single member of an HR team, if nothing about the corporation changes all that has been done is scapegoating a serious problem and punishing people who had zero power to begin with.
edit: Reading more into this; it's clear that because some of the most damning quotes come from HR employees that they are not the source of the problem. It sounds to me like they clearly want change and have zero power to do so. If Ubisoft could place the blame on their kitchen staff I'm sure they would. Expendable employees always eat dirt for the shit-heels at the top.
So even if you fire every single member of an HR team, if nothing about the corporation changes all that has been done is scapegoating a serious problem and punishing people who had zero power to begin with.
edit: Reading more into this; it's clear that because some of the most damning quotes come from HR employees that they are not the source of the problem. It sounds to me like they clearly want change and have zero power to do so. If Ubisoft could place the blame on their kitchen staff I'm sure they would. Expendable employees always eat dirt for the shit-heels at the top.
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That was very disappointing to read. I always admired Ubisoft for being a company with an obscene amount of employees relative to the entire game industry but with a work environment like that I don't see the benefit anymore.
It was nice that so many people were being paid to work but the human suffering that happens to be widespread from top to bottom is not worth it.
It was nice that so many people were being paid to work but the human suffering that happens to be widespread from top to bottom is not worth it.
Imagine being in HR and someone comes to you about a rape and you turn around and fuck that person. Gross
Generally speaking this is true but from what is being reported it really doesn't seem like it would take as much effort to build a case against the company by recording things going on at work and making multiple complaints that are acknowledged in writing even though they will all be dismissed.
I think it should be easier for a a few determined employees to build a case here because the abuse is both widespread and it sounds like it happens regularly.
HR have the power to silence employees, and they did it at Ubisoft.
Does that mean than everyone in HR at Ubisoft did it? No, but the direction of HR decided to bury any complaints and even tried to bully victims by given them bad evaluation. You can't do that if there aren't people at all level accepting to do it.
Exactly.
I already said since the first article that Guillemot already knew and covered that shit.
Same reason consoles being produced by slave labor wasn't reported wide-scale.
"Game Journalism" is entirely dependent on the Patronage of the Publishers and 1st Parties. They say anything too inconvenient to the big companies and suddenly their Press Credentials and Review Copies go poof.
Games will never truly be Art until games media can have proper sovereignty from game publishers like Movie-press has from film studios/distributors. Whenever a film Reviewer is conspicuously not invited to a film screening, it's an outrage - Whenever a game reviewer gets cut off, it's just Business as Usual.
Doesn't Ubisoft fund a lot of gaming websites through advertising? I assume that has something to do with it. It's hard to bite the hand that feeds you.
I agree but the idea that HR somehow mandated themselves into this toxicity is just not realistic. Why would they use the "power" they have to silence employees if there was no explicit instruction to do it? A person would have to be a total psychopath.
Again, HR are support staff. They have zero power. I'm all for selectively cleaning house within HR when these kinds of things happen, but there's obviously a much deeper problem at Ubisoft that needs to be addressed.
quoting because there is a Google Drive link to an english pdf of the article
A complete ousting of enablers in executive positions, including Yves, needs to happen along with the perpetrators. The updates from the last thread were already disgusting to read - victims feeling the workplace became worse for them due to the allegations. It just does not feel like Ubisoft is capable of doing the right thing without significant changes from the top down.
Wont the event tomorrow just make people forget about all this. You know how games media operates. It all will fly under the radar.
It's sickening to read that HR and higher ups let such a culture exist. Ubi needs to fire everyone who is proven guilty
Serge is Yves Guillemot's BFF and 2nd in command, btw.
Also confirming that Ubisoft's goal is to sack a bunch of people to look good on the surface, and hoping people outside will stop talking about it within a week.
(and it works...)
Translation [Content Warning: gross sexual harassment, homophobic slurs]:
Serge, surrounded by his VPs, told woman she "wasn't getting properly fucked" and impeded on his creativity. He said "her mind needs to be expanded by having her ass pounded over and over by big dicks until she gets it".
He forces creative directors to drink until they get sick. He asks the waitress to bring in all the booze in the restaurant (paid by the business of course) and howls, "You're a fa***t if you don't drink!"
In a work meeting, he seats people by alternating men and women, before whispering into the ears of various team leaders: "Ooh, there's sexual tension here. We'll need to do something about it before the end of the meeting."
Note: this man is still not fired, and likely never will be. His face is proudly shown on the Ubisoft leadership website.
What a joke. It's a goddamn Lannister dynasty in there.
miss me with this stuff. I posted the news on three big gaming sites in the netherlands today and I dont care what marketing campaigns are rolling right now. News is news.
Ain't happening
Kinda funny will gladly cover tomorrow's conference
I tried asking Easy Allies. They didn't cover Blizzcon 2019 but they'll cover this, unless they change their minds at the last moment.
What they should do is during the conference is cover all the allegations and stuff instead of the reveals......throw a spin in it. Everyone looking for their personalities looking for reveals but instead keeps coming up on all the gross and disgusting work culture that exists
Vivendi is putting its money in building a French Fox News because it feels populist far right views aren't represented enough on news networks, so they aren't great either. 🤷♂️
Wtf
I thought this kind of things only happened here in the third world where most people get little to no education.
This is sickening.
I find it very disturbing that I just heard about this today. I follow too many game websites/podcasts/youtube channels to not have heard about this until now.
I had always thought that of the big companies Ubisoft was one of the better ones (ethically speaking). It is surprising to find out how far off base I was. Fuck Ubisoft. Also, fuck the majority of game journalists completely burying this story. What a mess...
I had always thought that of the big companies Ubisoft was one of the better ones (ethically speaking). It is surprising to find out how far off base I was. Fuck Ubisoft. Also, fuck the majority of game journalists completely burying this story. What a mess...
For those who want to get this out there I know a lot of the EasyAllies guys are responsive to these concerns if brought up to their individual twitter accounts. Just saying if you want them to be informed. Though I'm pretty sure they might have caught wind about this anyway. Same with whatever outlet or content creator you watch or support. Max dood, Cohcarnage etc. etc.
Glad i did not commit there 20 years ago.
I bet the move earlier this year of having Hascoet stop being in direct relation with the creative groups and rather have only key people under him whom in turn lead the creative teams was at least in part because his behavior was getting more and more out of control.
The guy belongs in jail.
I don't want to imagine the number of suicidal thoughts he inspired.
I understand "la faire tourner jusqu'à ce qu'elle comprenne" as
I bet the move earlier this year of having Hascoet stop being in direct relation with the creative groups and rather have only key people under him whom in turn lead the creative teams was at least in part because his behavior was getting more and more out of control.
The guy belongs in jail.
I don't want to imagine the number of suicidal thoughts he inspired.
I understand "la faire tourner jusqu'à ce qu'elle comprenne" as
"group rape her until she understands" in french ("une tournante" is a group rape).
Very impressed by the extent of Liberation's reporting (as sad as the story is). I've also talked to more than 30 current and former Ubisoft employees over the past few weeks. It's basically the only thing I've been working on. I'll have a story up in the near future.