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[UPDATE]
We’ve received an update from a representative at Panache Digital on behalf of Patrice, clarifying his statement:
“Patrice is still in Europe but he wants to apologize for his recent comments at the Reboot: Develop conference. In a very poor attempt to be funny while answering a serious question, he said something that was inappropriate and more importantly, not reflective of our company. We firmly believe that the best work of our industry comes from diversity and we do strive to achieve that on our teams.”
Somehow the context of his statement was lost in the original report, and it seems like no one (prior to us) reached out to clarify his statement.
[ORIGINAL STORY]
We recently put out a report on Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey finally resurfacing with some new information and gameplay.
Somewhat buried in that report was a quote from the game’s creator, Patrice Désilets, who is also known for his work in creating the Assassin’s Creed series. Unfortunately, the quote wasn’t very flattering.
When presenting new details for the game at Reboot: Develop in Croatia, Désilets was asked how his studio considers female hires. His response is quoted as such:
“If the candidate has a dick he’s not hired. I’m not telling the story of humankind only with guys. It didn’t happen that way. You need to make babies,” Désilets said. This is a direct quote from the original report, via the outlet VG24/7.
While the response sounds like hyperbole, there is no indication this was meant as a joke, nor was this noted as a joke. If this is in any way true, it naturally doesn’t exactly fall under legal hiring practices for Canada as it discriminates against certain groups of people.
We’ve reached out to Panache Digital for clarification from Patrice, so we’re hoping to get a response and will update this article if we get one.
Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey currently has no development platforms, but make sure to follow our feed to get any future updates!
