• Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

JamboGT

Vehicle Handling Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,445
Serge being gone is a huge deal, regardless of the allegations, which I believe of course, he was feared by pretty much everyone, if he didn't like your pitch it was going nowhere.

As an ex ubi employee this is crazy to me.
 

VAD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,504
That's ballsy but I guess it was the only thing to do . They were sorry they got caught and are now trying to save face. I may buy the next Ubisoft games now.
 

Hailinel

Shamed a mod for a tag
Member
Oct 27, 2017
35,527
I struggle to see how Yves is capable of righting the ship here if he was aware of all this (And it's hard to believe he wouldn't have been).
I think the only thing that might absolve him is if the HR department were so corrupt that serious offenses he should have been made aware of were never, ever escalated to him.
 

Vamphuntr

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,301
UbisoftParis_Affichage_006Hascoet.png
UbisoftParis_Affichage_006Cornet.png


Hascoët, Cornet

DĂ©missions !

From the second poster: "What I understand is that Ubisoft will punish just a few people, the most visible, just to look good on the outside, but that they will save all the toxic people whose names have not come out fiercely. The goal has a date: The management hopes that we will not talk about the Ubisoft scandal in a week."

"Yves is OK with toxicity in the management, as long as the results of these executives exceed their level of toxicity."

Yeah, OK, so is Yves Guillemot going to leave Ubisoft too?

Doux JĂ©sus

Les extraits sur les affichettes donnent froid dans le dos. Hascoët semble être un pervers fini et Cornet semble vouloir tout simplement étouffer les scandales pour ne pas nuire à l'entreprise.

La mention qu'Yves est au courant mais ne fait rien est la cerise sur le gâteau.

This is still probably the tip of the iceberg. If the big executives fostered that kind of climate you can bet they've corrupted the people below then.
 

S1kkZ

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,386
Serge being gone is a huge deal, regardless of the allegations, which I believe of course, he was feared by pretty much everyone, if he didn't like your pitch it was going nowhere.

As an ex ubi employee this is crazy to me.
do you think this will have a huge impact, despite yves stil lbeeing there? or is there already a replacement for serge in the waiting (that will follow the same course)?
 

JamboGT

Vehicle Handling Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,445
do you think this will have a huge impact, despite yves stil lbeeing there? or is there already a replacement for serge in the waiting (that will follow the same course)?
In my experience Yves was very hands off with the games, they all went through Serge, basically he was in charge of the creative output and had final say. This will change a lot.
 

headspawn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,605
I mean, it's certainly great that they're ditching these fuck faces right now, but that's hard for me to take them seriously when this is what it took for them to take action. It's not like they're just hearing about it now, the people that could've done this a long time ago should have to pass a sniff test because clearly letting these things slide as a habit was simply status quo. That's pretty suspect IMO.
 

Grimsen

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,259
Bye bitches!

This is a big step in the right direction. They just need to keep going.
 
Oct 26, 2017
13,596
Depending on where these folks worked, doesn't this go against this thing where folks thought EU law gave immunity to folks as long as it didn't affect their business. Case and point; the THQ Nordic 8chan AMA? Folks were going on about how Reinhard Pollice and Philip Brock couldn't be fired due to laws in that region which IIRC included their home country Sweden.

Different story if this was all here in Canada however. But still, wouldn't Serge have been HQ'd in France like Yves?
 
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
UbisoftParis_Affichage_006Hascoet.png
UbisoftParis_Affichage_006Cornet.png


Hascoët, Cornet

DĂ©missions !

From the second poster: "What I understand is that Ubisoft will punish just a few people, the most visible, just to look good on the outside, but that they will save all the toxic people whose names have not come out fiercely. The goal has a date: The management hopes that we will not talk about the Ubisoft scandal in a week."
That's oversimplifying matters a bit.
You don't oust somebody like Hascoet for show, that's not how this works. If it was just Cornet yeah, but this is a pretty powerful move.
Not saying "Glad this is over then" of course there is still much to do but this is not a scapegoat move.

Depending on where these folks worked, doesn't this go against this thing where folks thought EU law gave immunity to folks as long as it didn't affect their business. Case and point; the THQ Nordic 8chan AMA? Folks were going on about how Reinhard Pollice and Philip Brock couldn't be fired due to laws in that region which IIRC included their home country Sweden.

Different story if this was all here in Canada however. But still, wouldn't Serge have been HQ'd in France like Yves?

A company can always fire a employee and this isn't even that, they "resigned". You get like a 3 month grace period if you get fired for "no reason" (meaning the company has to pay you for three more months so you have enough time to find a new job). That is unless you do something that actively hurts it's business as you said, then they can kick you out immediately.
The THQ thing was based on Austrian law btw, not Sweden.
 

Rotobit

Editor at Nintendo Wire
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
10,196
Very good start, now get rid of the rest and bolster the voices of those who were affected.
 

Siresly

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,564
I did not expect this to actually happen and was prepared to continually highlight this for years like with most everything else scummy going on in video game land.

So...that's surprising and good to hear. This is a proper start of turning the ship around. There's actual hope. How strange.
 
Last edited:

Yuntu

Prophet of Regret
Member
Nov 7, 2019
10,661
Germany
Depending on where these folks worked, doesn't this go against this thing where folks thought EU law gave immunity to folks as long as it didn't affect their business. Case and point; the THQ Nordic 8chan AMA? Folks were going on about how Reinhard Pollice and Philip Brock couldn't be fired due to laws in that region which IIRC included their home country Sweden.

Different story if this was all here in Canada however. But still, wouldn't Serge have been HQ'd in France like Yves?

They didnt get fired. They stepped down. Different situations so to speak.

Atleast it reads like they stepped down.
 

N64Controller

Member
Nov 2, 2017
8,310
I mean, it's certainly great that they're ditching these fuck faces right now, but that's hard for me to take them seriously when this is what it took for them to take action. It's not like they're just hearing about it now, the people that could've done this a long time ago should have to pass a sniff test because clearly letting these things slide as a habit was simply status quo. That's pretty suspect IMO.

It was clearly becoming (actually was) some sort of a status quo, but this is a status quo shattering event. Even reading all of this, a lot of people underestimate how insane it is that Serge quit over this. No idea how much he was pressured to, but the fact that they most likely moved against him is HUGE.

Things will definitely change at Ubisoft at this point.
 

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,335
Good news.

Ubisoft needed action and this is a solid start (and a surprising one?). Good. Don't bury your heads in the sand.

Keep it up.
 
Oct 26, 2017
13,596
In my experience Yves was very hands off with the games, they all went through Serge, basically he was in charge of the creative output and had final say. This will change a lot.
How much do you believe that Yves was part of this fuckery? Was he aware or my some miracle wasn't? Do you think he is serious about cleaning house or is this just smoke and mirrors essentially and once we stop looking things will be back to normal with just some people gone?
 

N64Controller

Member
Nov 2, 2017
8,310
How much do you believe that Yves was part of this fuckery? Was he aware or my some miracle wasn't? Do you think he is serious about cleaning house or is this just smoke and mirrors essentially and once we stop looking things will be back to normal with just some people gone?

Serge being a creep was literally at gossip level at the studio I was at. Pretty sure it was the case in every Ubisoft studio. Ask any Ubisoft employee or any ex employee. Everyone heard a story about that. How much of a creep he was wasn't that broadcasted, but the fact that it was at gossip level that he was one really tells you what you need to know about this.

Even with that in mind, this is not just smokes and mirrors. This is a huge deal.
 
Oct 26, 2017
13,596
A company can always fire a employee and this isn't even that, they "resigned". You get like a 3 month grace period if you get fired for "no reason" (meaning the company has to pay you for three more months so you have enough time to find a new job). That is unless you do something that actively hurts it's business as you said, then they can kick you out immediately.
The THQ thing was based on Austrian law btw, not Sweden.
They didnt get fired. They stepped down. Different situations so to speak.

Atleast it reads like they stepped down.
Ah, thanks! :)
 

YaBish

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,337
Oh conveniently less than 24 hours before their big game showcase huh? Sick.

From what I've read, Yves should go too.
 
Oct 26, 2017
13,596
Serge being a creep was literally at gossip level at the studio I was at. Pretty sure it was the case in every Ubisoft studio. Ask any Ubisoft employee or any ex employee. Everyone heard a story about that. How much of a creep he was wasn't that broadcasted, but the fact that it was at gossip level that he was one really tells you what you need to know about this.

Even with that in mind, this is not just smokes and mirrors. This is a huge deal.
I truly hope this is the start of great changes to come and they won't just wipe their hands going "there, done. Now where were we?". A huge start obviously. Fingers crossed.
 

JamboGT

Vehicle Handling Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,445
How much do you believe that Yves was part of this fuckery? Was he aware or my some miracle wasn't? Do you think he is serious about cleaning house or is this just smoke and mirrors essentially and once we stop looking things will be back to normal with just some people gone?
Honestly, I don't know. I was based in the UK and most of the fuckery seems to be in Paris and Montreal. I will say that Serge was feared by pretty much everyone, due to the power he had. Yves in my experience wasn't, but who knows.
 

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Would be hard to be a scapegoat move without massive blowback unless they have the receipts or all got an ironclad pay off for leaving, don't think I would want the latter and bad reputation so going to guess they have enough corroborating evidence that sinks them so they got ousted.
 

sibarraz

Prophet of Regret - One Winged Slayer
Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
18,085
They fired the HR head because she commited abuse or for ignoring the complaints from the workers?
 

Blindside

Member
Jan 23, 2020
883
We'll know how serious this actually is, if the effort stops here at a few "bad apples". It's clear that there's some deep systemic and culture problems across the entire organization.
 

denx

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,321
Hope this isn't the end of it. Those guys (Hascoet especially) need to be thrown in jail.
 

MatrixMan.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,498
I don't know crap about how these companies work, but I'm very surprised to see that one man, just one man was this powerful. In charge of ALL of their games? Could greenlight or cancel any project at will, just like that? Just one man? Wow, man. Wow.

You'd be surprised at how much power a person can have over a whole company if they're on the right side of the right people (read: friends with the right people). Even to the point where they have a say in shit that isn't really their place to, but they're enabled by the people around them.
 

P-Bo

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jun 17, 2019
4,405
Really surprised at Ubi for giving them the boot. I sincerely hope this is indicative of the direction the company will now go--for the employees' collective sake.
 
Oct 25, 2017
22,378
I hope this will embolden more developers at other studios to speak up as well.
Even if it stops there (and hopefully it won't) that's still at least some progress.
 

piratepwnsninja

Lead Game Designer
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
3,811