Ubisoft Singapore are reportedly under investigation by a watchdog group for allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) told The Straits Times they are investigating the developer over links they received July 23rd; media coverage about sexual harassment and discrimination.
A July 21st article by Kotaku spoke to former developers, including one who said “Ubisoft Singapore has always been kind of known [internally] to be one of the worst Ubisoft studios in terms of culture. People would visit [from other studios] and be like, ‘What the fuck is wrong here?”
20 former and current staff told Kotaku the Singapore subsidiary allegedly paid poorly and rarely offered raises rarely promoted anyone into managerial or creative departments, ignored sexual harassment, had racial pay disparities, bullying by managers, fostered a sense of a “French ceiling” where those outside of France or not speaking French would struggle to succeed, and an unsympathetic HR department.
The conditions came under former Managing Director Hugues Ricour, who was removed from his position after a “leadership audit” in the wake of the allegations; including allegations against himself. However Ricour was still working for Ubisoft, per a statement by the developer to Kotaku, later revealed as Production Intelligence Director in Ubisoft’s headquarters.
In a statement to Kotaku over the allegations, Ubisoft emphasized the “35 nationalities” that made up the staff and how “40% of expert and senior expert roles are Singaporean or permanent residents.”
Ubisoft state they are continuing to increase Singaporean leadership, and changes to promote “a safe and inclusive work environment for all.” However they also noted that “compensation is determined by role, responsibility, market practices and performance.”
While Tafep is a watchdog group, if their investigation via interviews and documented evidence are found to violate discrimination laws, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) could ban Ubisoft from new work passes for foreign employees (or renewing existing ones) for one to two years. Tafep are also noted as having the power to require them to implement new policies.
However, sexual harassment that include molestation or the like would result in full blown police investigation; with punishments including fines, jailing, or caning. The case could still end up as civil via suing for damages or requesting a protection order.
Tafep reportedly urged anyone with knowledge of sexual harassment and assault to report it to the police.
The alleged environment and Ubisoft Singapore may explain why their open-world pirate game Skull & Bones was delayed multiple times [1, 2]. The game was reportedly rebooted due to not standing out among Ubisoft’s portfolio of in-development open-world games; now moving towards a live game model (also known as “Games as a Service”).
Ubisoft officially stated there will be more news on Skull & Bones in 2021, though production “has been in full swing with a new vision,” as they “dreamt something bigger.”
We previously reported how after numerous sexual misconduct allegations, multiple Ubisoft executives stood down during internal investigations. Anonymous sources also spoke to other outlets, describing the working atmosphere blurred the line between work and leisure, which allegedly lead to predatory behavior.
Ubisoft vice president of editorial and creative services Tommy François was fired in late July to early August. In our prior report, François was one of the executives who had accusations levied against him. Other executives had also resigned or were placed on administrative leave.
Allegations made against Ismail were one of the first made against Ubisoft executives. Streamer Dani Porter Bridges (“MatronEdna”) claimed in a tweet that she and Ismail had been in a relationship for one year “on and off,” despite Ismail being married. Ismail was later reportedly fired from Ubisoft.
Other Ubisoft executives who have are no longer present at the company include vice president of editorial Maxime Béland, chief creative officer Serge Hascöet, managing director of Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, global head of human resources Cécile Cornet (all resigned), and public relations director Stone Chin (fired).
Along with allegations of sexual harassment, several individuals were accused of racist or homophobic comments, as well as close friends of executives being promoted over women. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot stated there would be changes to improving diversity and inclusivity at the company, along with the company’s support of Black Lives Matter.
Ubisoft staff also called for industry-wide changes, after Activison Blizzard was also sued for sexual harassment and discrimination.
Image: Skull & Bones via Twitter
