[Liberation] Sexual harassment at Ubisoft: "We knew". (>100 cases from harassment to rape, half were known to HR, toxicity tolerated with results)

[Dreams-Visions]

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.

Click to shrink...

Take all the time you need. We very much look forward to all the lights being turned on so that we can see clearly.

 

[FF Seraphim]

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.

Click to shrink...

The more this is reported and talked about the better. Hopefully with additional outlets covering it, something may get done.

 

[Nardy_19]

Your comparison makes no sense because actors or even directors do not own their movies.

• You would be boycotting Universal movie, along with 99% of staff unrelated to the problems, because of the X actor.
• You would be boycotting a Ubisoft game, along with 100% Ubisoft staff, because Ubisoft's leadership does not care about sexual harassment.

Click to shrink...

Okay but ALL of UbiSoft is not bad......so it is actually more of a comparison than you think . You want to take it out on UbiSoft products because the head honchos ( who don't even physically make the games) are shit tard humans. I would re-think that if i were you.

If a musician, who owned the rights to his catalog, did something despicable......would you ban every song he was featured in? Even if the other artists had no involvement or awareness.....

 

[TheZynster]

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.

Click to shrink...

Oh shit

press sneak about to bring it!!!

I'm really interested in it. But man, I know coming out I'm going to be so disappointed at all the crap that happens over there.

 

[Grayson]

Clearly the leadership needs to be axed.

 

[purseowner]

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.

Click to shrink...

Pleased to hear (that you'll have a story, that is)

 

[WordsintheWater]

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.

Click to shrink...

Take all the time you need, hopefully your article can put more eyes on this issue over here.

 

[.exe]

Looking forward to Schreier bringing the heat. Could really use a widely accessible English article on this to get more eyes on it.

 

[Palette Swap]

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.

Click to shrink...

Great.
One thing that has hampered this getting more visibility is that for all the quality and depth of Liberation's reporting, it was in French (and paywalled, at that).

 

[Morrigan]

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.

Click to shrink...

Nice. Your work on that is always solid and I look forward to this story getting more mainstream coverage in English-speaking news.

 

[Deleted member 23046]

I think this time it won't stay under the carpet like an isolated incident or pervert.

I am not talking about gamers but professionals, in and outside the company.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Glad to hear Jason is on it too.

More visibility the better

 

[wartime]

 

[Syrenne]

Love to resign so an investigation doesn't complete

 

[z1ggy]

Click to shrink...

Good news, hopefully things will improve for workers.

 

[LuuKyK]

Well that's a start, well done Ubi.

 

[The Bear]

Click to shrink...

Hopefully it won't end there. A proper criminal investigation needs to happen.

 

[Nimby]

What a piece of shit company. I came home from work and saw the thread asking for a ban on discussion of UbiForward without context. This is far worse than I could have ever imagined. Clean house, get all those fucks out.

Edit: And now they're apparently out. Hope the work culture improves because of it.

 

[MrSaturn99]

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.

Click to shrink...

Thank you for your work.

 

[minus_me]

There was an article in La Presse from the 25th of June for those wondering if this was being talked about in Canada.

https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/en...uites-sexuelles-ubisoft-dans-la-tourmente.php

In french of course.

 

[chris 1515]

Good news.

 

[chrominance]

Okay but ALL of UbiSoft is not bad......so it is actually more of a comparison than you think . You want to take it out on UbiSoft products because the head honchos ( who don't even physically make the games) are shit tard humans. I would re-think that if i were you.

If a musician, who owned the rights to his catalog, did something despicable......would you ban every song he was featured in? Even if the other artists had no involvement or awareness.....

Click to shrink...

You know people have done exactly this with people like R. Kelly, Michael Jackson, Gary Glitter, etc., right?

You're free to do what you like. If you still want to buy Ubisoft games, no one's stopping you. People have given their reasons why they don't feel comfortable doing so. Obviously you don't agree. No one is obligated to give Ubisoft or any other game publisher their money.

 

[Suede]

This is so gross, wtf.

 

[CenaToon]

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.

Click to shrink...

Take all them down jason. Thank you for covering this.

 

[thatmustbyogurt]

I just asked them about their sexual allegations on all their IG posts and they deleted them so fast.... Notnsurprised but i will bombardier them with these questions on live stream tomorrow

 

[dosh]

Well that's a start, well done Ubi.

Click to shrink...

I'm guessing they all resigned, not just Hascoet. Not sure this is "Ubi cleaning house" as much as "higher ups leaving amidst shitstorm because their presence was damaging the brand".

 

[Menx64]

Great.
One thing that has hampered this getting more visibility is that for all the quality and depth of Liberation's reporting, it was in French (and paywalled, at that).

Click to shrink...

Jason works at a paywalled website as well...

 

[Deleted member 73558]

The news is up on the Guardian website.

 

[Cloud-Strife]

Wtf is going on.. this needs to stop.

 

[buset]

The news is up on the Guardian website.

Click to shrink...

And the 6th most read article currently. Thats really big TBH

 

[sweetmini]

Resignation is not enough, specially if they can convert their stock options and be covered with unemployment benefits (although short because resignation).
They should be fired without benefits and be brought to justice.
No gain from harassment should be permitted.

 

[Arcus Felis]

Well, that's a start. That's already better than I expected (ie. nothing). Still, Ubisoft seems to have deeply ingrained issues that probably won't go away simply because a few people decided to resign (or, well, were probably "invited" to resign). That being said, I didn't expect Hascoet to leave, that's huge, I think I can safely say everyone thought he was untouchable.

However, I fear many employees (victims) are going to be ostracized. The work environment won't change in one day, and I can't even imagine how is the mood right now there.

 

[Humidex]

It's a start. But only a start. The entire culture, top to bottom, is rotten. That has to change, and soon.

 

[Palette Swap]

These are good developments.

Jason works at a paywalled website as well...

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but at least, this would propagate the stories in the English speaking sphere. This wasn't a fundamental dig at paywalled journalism.

 

[Raigor]

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.

Click to shrink...

Looking forward for that.

Is it true that Serge was the one in charge of approving / rejecting game pitches from Ubisoft studios? That's insane, having one person deciding which game is good or not is just too dumb.

 

[zMiiChy-]

I think I might finally boycott a company for issues that are not on the consumer end(Ubisoft has those too though of course), but the employees.

Out of all the recent allegations, I hope this the worst...

Good that changes are occurring but the damage is done.
Fuck this company forever from my end.

 

[Yuntu]

Looking forward for that.

Is it true that Serge was the one in charge of approving / rejecting game pitches from Ubisoft studios? That's insane, having one person deciding which game is good or not is just too dumb.

Click to shrink...

A lot of big companies have people that can cancel or greenlight projects, I think.

 

[Raigor]

A lot of big companies have people that can cancel or greenlight projects, I think.

Click to shrink...

Several people? Sure, but having ONE PERSON deciding for everything is bonkers.

 

[herminihildo]

Well, that's a start. That's already better than I expected (ie. nothing). Still, Ubisoft seems to have deeply ingrained issues that probably won't go away simply because a few people decided to resign (or, well, were probably "invited" to resign). That being said, I didn't expect Hascoet to leave, that's huge, I think I can safely say everyone thought he was untouchable.

However, I fear many employees (victims) are going to be ostracized. The work environment won't change in one day, and I can't even imagine how is the mood right now there.

Click to shrink...

Yes. Work culture doesn't change overnight. My understanding is that this has been going on for years. This has probably festered more assaulters and enablers within the company, probably holding high positions.

Yves needed to resign at the end of this.

 

[Yuntu]

Several people? Sure, but having ONE PERSON deciding for everything is bonkers.

Click to shrink...

You would be surprised how much one person can change an entire company.

I think this is more common than we believe.

 

[Deleted member 23046]

Back to1998. Poke jschreier !

All translations are provided by https://www.deepl.com/en/home

Le web, repaire du salarié en colère. Faute de syndicat, des employés d'Ubi Soft utilisent l'Internet.

www.liberation.fr

The web, den of the angry employee. In the absence of a union, Ubi Soft employees use the Internet.

By Laurent MAURIAC and Nicole PENICAUT - December 16, 1998 at 4:30 pm

It's like playing a video game. Your world: a company with to which you devote your days and a good part of your nights. Your mission: to improve your working conditions. First attempt, knock on the door of the personnel department. You walk around the landscaped offices, but you can't find it. You have to reread the rules: human resources are managed department by department. You then look for a trade union or a staff representative. They too are non-existent. So you set up a "bomb": you dump the sum of your dissatisfactions on a website, anonymously, without the knowledge of your bosses.

"The bomb has exploded," the head of the operation announced yesterday morning. Albert (pseudonym) is employed at Ubi Soft. He works on video game projects, a unique activity for the French company. This time, the bomb didn't explode on the screen of a CD-Rom, but in a thousand electronic mailboxes. In the form of a message sent yesterday morning to the media and all the video game group's units and subsidiaries abroad: "Ubi Soft employees are today launching the first virtual union: Ubifree [...], an alternative to the lack of social structure within Ubi Soft." At the end of the morning, the employees threw themselves onto the pages (1). A 'moment of euphoria', said one of them. They then discovered a crude picture of their company, which was criticized for a monarchical operation based on allegiance to the five Guillemot brothers (the company's founders), a "strategy of opacity", a "two-speed flow of information", "cronyism", renewal of fixed-term contracts "at will" thanks to the "multiple sub-companies" (none of which had more than 49 employees), etc. The employees were also criticized for the lack of a social structure within Ubi Soft.

Deplorable image. The aim of the initiative, says Albert, is to "push the Guillemot brothers to think about the organization of their company" and to establish a dialogue with them. A space has been set aside on the site to gather their reaction. Why unpack everything? If we don't do it, it's doomed to fail," explains Albert. We have to put pressure on Ubi Soft's image." In fact, a company spokesman believes that the site "will give a deplorable image of Ubi Soft."

New in France, the direct expression of groups of employees has already developed in the United States (see opposite). And when it is practiced, it's generally without a lot of tongue-in-cheek. "It would be very difficult for a trade union organization to have such a tone," says Yves Lasfargues, a former CFDT manager who now runs a training organization (Crefac). But at Ubi Soft, trade unions are not welcome. "They are not in demand internally," says a company spokesman. Albert has another interpretation: the use of fixed-term contracts makes some employees feel insecure. So Ubifree would be the ransom for the absence of a trade union. And if this initiative were to have a knock-on effect, it is likely, as Yves Lasfargue says, that "employers will end up preferring a union delegate".

Censorship. This would then be good news for the CFDTs and other CGTs, which also recall that the first forms of employee organization were created in the last century on similar forms. "People grouped together by proximity," explains Serge Le Roux of the CGT. This type of approach can be a way for people to rediscover trade union action. It's a sign of good civic health." But this outline of collective action will only last if anonymity is lifted. "The site won't be able to exist for long if we don't know who we're talking to and who's responsible for it," says Yves Lasfargue. Yesterday, between noon and 4 p.m., Ubi Soft cut off all employee access to the site. The Guillemot brothers said they had "no comment to make".

(1) www. multimania. com/ubifree/

Laurent MAURIAC , Nicole PENICAUT

Click to shrink...

*about the Libération article : CGT is a blue collar union and CFDT a suit & tie union.

"Ubi Fee - the first virtual union" - a virtual mausoleum (in french)

Ubi Free - Le syndicat virtuel

 

[Deleted member 23046]

Right after Ubi Free, someone funded "Cryosecours" (a joke that in french sounds like "Askforhelp") a similar structure for Cryo Interactive.

Paywalled article in the newspaper "Le Monde"

www.multimania.com/cryosecours

Le Monde.fr - 1er site d’information sur l’actualité. Retrouvez ici une archive du 19 mars 1999 sur le sujet www.multimania.com/cryosecours

www.lemonde.fr

Free article from the newspaper "L'Humanité", centered around Ubi Free but talking about Cryosecours. poke jschreier

Syndic@lisme Internautes de tous les pays, unissez-vous !

Il y a deux ans, le site Ubi Free jetait un pavé dans la mare : le premier syndicat virtuel était né. Retour avec son créateur, Jérémie Lefebvre. Au pays joyeux des enfants heureux. La Cinquième. 14 h 35. Le visage d'un éternel adolescent, cheveux longs, petite barbichette, sourire en coin...

www.humanite.fr

Two years ago, the Ubi Free site threw a paving stone in the pond: the first virtual union was born.
Back with its creator, Jérémie Lefebvre.

To the happy land of happy children.

The face of an eternal teenager, long hair, little goatee, smirk, Jérémie Lefebvre seems at first glance to be the most harmless of all. Yet he was the bête noire of Ubi Soft, a swarm of small companies that give in to gaming software, with profits in spades and a backdrop commensurate with such prosperity. "Every day, I imagined that, after joining the company, I would be told that everyone knew and that I'd better leave," he smiles.

Explanation: together with six colleagues, he is the instigator of the Ubi Free site, the first virtual trade union, a forum open to start-up workers and an uncompromising look at working conditions in this industry of the electronic dream. "The idea came to us after an article in which our boss had said "the 35-hour week is something designed by old people and for old people" and others "those over thirty, they should be reprogrammed so that they can keep up with the times, and even more... "While he was able to express himself all the time, we at Ubi Soft were not allowed to speak. Both outside and inside, given the absence of a works council. "And what was supposed to be a simple answer from the shepherd to the shepherdess in the form of an article became a website.

"On December 15, 1999, at 11:30 a.m., all Ubi Soft employees received an e-mail announcing the birth of Ubi Free. Immediately, everyone stopped working! Management tried to cut off access to the site after two hours, but as the press knew right away, they gradually came to tolerate it," he explains.

Mocking the prevailing youthfulness and describing individualism, the lack of a representative structure, gender discrimination and social contempt at Ubi Soft, the site was also a forum for employees. "It was like group therapy for former employees. Because they had left thinking that they were not adapted to the job market and were able to discover that it was the company that was at fault and not them," explains the man who became "Albert" on the web. The platform was also used by employees of other companies in the sector, "a veritable individualistic jungle," he asserts.

"Ubi Soft tried to find out who was behind these anonymous writings, launching anti-Ubi Free petitions. But management finally responded to our requests by organizing meetings with staff. Where it was difficult to speak up and where they told us that we didn't need a union," grinned Jeremie.

Ubi Free closed down on March 31, 1999 "because the employees quickly lost interest in the site. They never took it over. A sign? No one stood for election as employee representative. The balance sheet? Overall positive: "For a few months, working hours were applied. On the other hand, there were only a few audits by their human resources specialists and nothing afterwards. Above all, Ubi Free has made employees aware of a situation that many of them were undergoing without realizing it," rejoices Jérémie, who worked for two years at Ubi Soft while hating video games and preferring Balzac to manga.

The site has set a good example: "Save yourself or the strikers at the Bibliothèque de France, sites that supported movements. Cryosecours lasted a month. As for tchooze.com, it gathers anonymous testimonies of employees. "Jérémie Lefebvre is very circumspect about online unionism: "The Net is a formidable tool for expression, but we still need to make ourselves heard. The problem with anonymity is that it doesn't allow for empathy: we're wary! And then, there is a difference between being informed and fighting... "Nevertheless, he remains optimistic and appreciates that sociologists are finally taking an interest in "our generation, individualists who suffer without saying anything". So, Internet users of all countries, unite!

Sébastien Homer

Click to shrink...

 

[Deleted member 23046]

And to end our time travel, an intellectual approach of that affair, published in 1999 for the paper (and online) left review "Multitudes".

Ubi Free, une histoire de « syndicat virtuel » - multitudes

Subjectivité du travail immatériel et communicationLe secteur du logiciel est, par excellence, un secteur à hautes capacités de valorisation, tant financière qu’individuelle. Une certaine mythologie qui s’y attache enfonce le clou et regorge ainsi de ces modernes romances bon marché qui...

www.multitudes.net

Ubi Free : a story of "virtual union".

Subjectivity of immaterial labour and communication.

The software sector is, par excellence, a sector with a high capacity for valorisation, both financial and individual. A certain mythology that is attached to it drives the nail in and thus abounds in these modern cheap romances that renew, with a hi-tech patina, the fascination for those who, "starting from nothing", have become the unavoidable figures of economic modernity. From John Perry Barlow, the former lyricist of the Grateful Dead, who became a billionaire at the age of 27 thanks to the Lotus 1-2-3 software suite, and who is now fighting for civil liberties on the electronic frontier, to Bill Gates, the nerd genius who imposed his MS-Dos and Windows standards on the giant IBM, and then on the whole world, there is no shortage of examples.

But behind the success stories, and what is real about them, there is also a reverse side of the coin: an "industry" in perpetual mutation under the pressure of the accelerated rhythms of innovation and competition, based on the exploitation of deposits of a totally immaterial "raw material" - technical-scientific knowledge and empirical competence - and organized around a highly cooperative working model, although extremely individualized and totally flexible. The "modern" productive sector par excellence ... where the success of the new class of entrepreneurs comes at the price - for the employees, that is - of an increased submission to the capitalist organisation of labour.

It is precisely here that new challenges are at stake from the point of view of social relations. Indeed, if the soft sector has its stars, its elites and its aristocracies, it also has its "invisibles", its proletariat of maketing, graphic design or programming, its little people of "sign manipulators", subjected to the crossfire of a particularly deregulated employment sector and a profession entirely based on the demand for a very strong personal involvement in professional activity. Postfordist work in its fullness, in a way, as it can be deployed at least in a sector of activity where it is free of the rigidities still imposed elsewhere by the "workers'" trade union tradition. "It is a work that is built entirely around the necessary over-involvement of a rather young employee who is asked to do much more than just "professional" skills, but also to invest his experience, availability, creativity, flexibility.

It is therefore not surprising that, little by little, this branch, which likes to present itself as a "big family", is finally experiencing the first fires of social protest, which - leaving behind the classical paths of union and militant action - is resorting to new and experimental forms of collective action and demands, even inventing its own ways of reclaiming the word and acting as a social subject in a work space that is becoming increasingly confused with that of existence itself.

A short French-style story

Thus, on December 15, 1998, all employees of Ubi Soft France and those of its subsidiaries in Quebec, Morocco, Romania and China received a message by e-mail (via internal electronic messaging) announcing the launch of Ubi Free, a "virtual union" for the company's employees, the first of its kind in France: "Ubi Soft employs more than 400 people in Montreuil, with an average age of 26, who can neither express themselves, nor join a union, nor defend their rights [...]. In response to these practices, the employees are now launching the first virtual union: Ubi Free [..., an alternative to the lack of social structure within Ubi Soft"

The initiative in question consists first of all in the launch of a website, "The joyful land of happy children", under the Ubi Free banner, which describes, with a definite sense of humor and derision, the reality of working conditions at Ubi Soft. Pages of colorful text on a black background that looks like a real bomb! In the company itself first of all, where the modest and hypocritical veil that until then covered with a kind of omerta the rather "archaic" and "feudal" working conditions that everyone was finally forced to live in the strictest intimacy is now lifted. In the French software sector, as a result, since - by way of the press - a thorny question was for the first time publicly raised that had not even been raised until then.

It must be said that the company concerned by this "virtual" irruption of online trade unionism, Ubi Soft, is not just any company. "Ubi Soft is one of the Top 20 global publishers," as one of its managers likes to say. It is indeed one of the largest French distributors, adapters and producers of video games on all media (CD-Rom, DVD-Rom, Nitendo64, PlayStation, Dreamcast, etc.), whose figures speak for themselves: 1,120 "employees", 16 subsidiaries, sales of FRF 631 million as of September 30, 1998, prestigious titles in the catalog (Myst, Riven, Starwar, F1 Racing Simulation, Rayman)... In short, a prosperous company and a model for the sector, as we like them to be in France.

Run "as a family" by the five Guillemot brothers, the Ubi Soft empire demonstrates a strong sense of commercial initiative, investing every nook and cranny of a promising and fast-growing market. Behind the image of success, those of Ubi Free are thus delivering to advertising a way of operating worthy of another era, a "strategy of opacity", the reign of "cronyism", the renewal of fixed-term contracts "at will", the interweaving of the many sub-companies (none of which exceeds 49 employees) that make up the Ubi Soft empire, the precariousness of the system, the "merit-based" salary policy, etc. From this point of view, Ubi Soft is undoubtedly neither a model nor an exception: in the end, we find here a clever mix of the exceptional and the banal, of the particular and the common, which undoubtedly describes fairly well the situation in a cutting-edge economic sector that has undergone numerous and rapid changes over the last twenty years - in addition to a veritable commercial "explosion" -.

A situation in which a complex mixture of modernity and capitalist archaism is combined in the inextricable web of post-Fordism. This is perfectly described by Paolo Virno in Embivalence of Disenchantment, when he states: "Unlike Taylorism and Fordism, the current productive reorganization is selective in nature, it unfolds like stains on the leopard's fur, it attaches itself to traditional modules of work. The technological impact, at its peak, is not universalist: rather than determining an univocal mode of production, it keeps alive a myriad of differentiated modes of production and even resurrects some that are outdated and anachronistic". With what this also implies of a "return" to forms of servility of labour.

A "virtual union" for wage earners' mutants

Precisely, beyond the anecdote, and its immediate circumstances, the Ubi Free experience carries within it precious indications that we must read as so many avenues to explore. In fact, the experience of Ubi Free is worthy above all for its capacity to question, even involuntarily, both the reality of post-Fordist work and that of the figures of immaterial labor.

1. First of all, the importance of communication in the global scenario of post-industrial society. It was in reaction to a laudatory article on Ubi Soft published by the daily newspaper Libération that a few employees and former employees of the company felt the urge to express themselves in order to enunciate and denounce the unspoken aspects of the "official" discourse. "And from this abstract desire to respond comes the desire to speak out, to influence the real situation at Ubi Soft, to get things moving, to shake up a certain torpor among employees. The Ubi Free initiative - which quickly took on the description of a "virtual union" attributed to it by one of the Guillemot brothers - essentially took shape as a site on the web, as a public statement of revolt and aspirations. No picketing, no kidnapping of company executives, no demonstrations, no leaflets... Just words.

But "communication" - in this case, above all the management of its brand image and the promotion of its products - plays a decisive role in Ubi Soft's corporate strategy. And that's precisely where the Ubi Free initiative was aimed at. Benefiting from a certain attraction of novelty, Ubi Free has been given a fair amount of media coverage, which is bound to provide a timely sounding board for the affair, which will cut short the repressive wishes of the group's management. After cutting off employees' access to the Ubi Free site and conducting a "witch hunt" to find out who these anonymous virtual trade unionists might be, the company finally had to get to the heart of the matter, i.e. respond on the ground to the demands put forward.

At a time when communication is playing an increasingly decisive role in the productive cycle, it is also becoming a central issue for social confrontation and a field of action and organization for the figures of immaterial labor.

2. Secondly, the existence of a need for new forms of expression and action for employees in sectors that traditional trade unionism fails to represent and organize. One of the things that is particularly striking about the Ubi Free site is that it quickly gave rise - even beyond Ubi Soft staff alone - to many testimonies from other employees of similar companies. This reveals, of course, that the practices denounced by Ubi Free are obviously quite commonplace (even with different modalities and intensities) throughout the software sector; but also (and probably above all) it is a sign that we are facing a kind of "black hole" of collective action by employees, where the hyper-individualization of the relationship with work curbs the willingness to act and react to the practices of corporate management.

We're young, intelligent, passionate, and can work hard without worries or the desire to make demands," say the employees of Ubi Soft, who have joined forces to create Ubi Free, "We're young, intelligent, passionate, and can work hard without worries or the desire to make demands. A formula that contains all the paradox of the situation of these "mutants of the wage labor force", trapped between the "objective" processes of domination specific to post-Fordism and forms of "subjective" adherence to these same processes. As employees in a particularly deregulated sector, they are just as much subject to the global context of work that requires a maximum of investment from them, without necessarily being fully paid in return, as they are to their voluntary submission to work that is rich in content and individually relatively rewarding. Between these two terms lies the difficulty of initiating forms of collective action that are in contradiction with the "adherence to company objectives" required by this type of profession, and of formulating a global and general content of demands, since it is clear that neither the trade union discourse on the reduction of working time nor the "radical" discourse on guaranteed income seem to be sufficient in themselves to produce the identity and the collective dynamic that would allow a recomposition of the different figures of post-Fordist work.

Like a prologue under the clouds

On 30 March, the Ubi Free team finally put an end to its own experience. About ten days before a press release explained this decision: "Ubi Soft's managers are proposing to correct certain errors, to improve the functioning of their company as a human community. If these changes are accompanied, as in ancient times, by human sacrifices - voluntary and negotiated for some, violent and inelegant for others - the Guillemot brothers' long press release nonetheless announces a social springtime for those who remain [..... It is now up to the staff to ensure that this promise is kept. Vigilance is, and will remain, essential [..... We hope not to have to reappear. »

Faithful to themselves, our Ubi Free "masked avengers", after having been by their actions the revealing agents of a situation, leave it to everyone else to take care of the rest. In the specific case of Ubi Soft, the future will indeed tell whether or not, beyond the concessions announced by management, the clandestine communicative action of the "virtual union" has contributed, or not, to the emergence of forms of collective action by employees, and to a substantial change in relations within the company. But, at the same time, as an early echo to Ubi Free's action, in February 1999 Cryo Secours [another "virtual union", this time concerning the employees of Cryo, another jewel of the French video game industry, was formed, demonstrating - if necessary - that the ground cleared by Ubi Free's experience is largely fertile.

The questions opened up by Ubi Free's action have remained totally open, not being exhausted by the fact that they have obtained satisfaction from their bosses, nor by the deliberately ephemeral nature of the experience. It will undoubtedly take many more experiments of this type, in other sectors of immaterial labor, for a collective identity to emerge, a social figure of post-Fordist labor, capable of having a decisive influence in the class confrontation, as was the case, in other times, for the labor and trade union movement.

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[Hopewell]

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Great news even if it's not enough.
It shows how important it is to have journalists investigating these kind of things.

 

[Asbsand]

Former Creative Director of Dragon Age for those not in the know. He worked at Ubisoft Quebec until he left kind of suddenly. That place was also slammed as having a toxic HR department, so I guess he did not like what he ran into.

 

[Kiria]

Great these came out and hopefully others that hasnt spoke will have the courage to speak soon plus hopeful investigation proceeds.

also sadden that some of era member/s that loves and followed ubisoft haven't condemn them yet

 

[Atraveller]

How is this thread only 6 pages long?

 

[krazen]

Yes. Work culture doesn't change overnight. My understanding is that this has been going on for years. This has probably festered more assaulters and enablers within the company, probably holding high positions.

Yves needed to resign at the end of this.

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Yup. Many of the people involved are still around and will still be around since HR buried all those accusations and likely many of the victims left the company. A strong message has to be sent, and him NOT knowing all this bullshit was happening is as bad as him knowing (because how the fuck do you not know ya company is basically one big sexist bro party?)

 

[dosh]

Great these came out and hopefully others that hasnt spoke will have the courage to speak soon plus hopeful investigation proceeds.

also sadden that some of era member/s that loves and followed ubisoft haven't condemn them yet

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If you're thinking of people like Crossing Eden I don't really see why they should say anything. They're just enthusiast players, and sometimes a bit too enthusiast about Ubi, yes. But they neither work for nor are related to Ubi in the first place.

 

[Loanshark]

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.

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Very good. This needs more attention stateside.