Five former Ubisoft employees have reportedly been arrested after a lengthy investigation by French police into allegations of sexual assault and harassment at the games company. At least two of those arrested resigned Ubisoft following revelations of a negative workplace culture that enabled such harassment. Police began the investigation in 2021 after the Solidaires Informatique union and two victims filed a complaint.
According to French newspaper Libération (as translated by Gamesindustry.biz), two of the people arrested are former chief creative officer Serge Hascoët and former VP of editorial and creative services Tommy François. The French police have not yet revealed what each of the former employees have been charged with.
Stories about Ubisoft’s internal culture of harassment and discrimination — it was likened to a frat house — broke in 2020. Following this, several Ubisoft employees resigned, including Hascoet, Francois, VP Maxime Beland, Ubisoft Canada CEO Yannis Mallat and global head of HR Cecile Cornet.
Maude Beckers, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, said this is the first time in her 22-year career she’s seen such systemic enabling of harassment and assault by a company. A spokesperson for Ubisoft told GamesBeat, “Ubisoft has no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”