CW: This article contains references to sexual assault, racism, and violence.
Three former Ubisoft executives have been given suspended prison sentences and fines for sexual assault, racial harassment, and threatening behavior. All three men denied the allegations. Meanwhile, Ubisoft has arguably failed to address workplace concerns regarding its office culture, with few substantive changes.
Editorial vice president Thomas François, chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, and game director Guillaume Patrux all left Ubisoft in 2020 after a series of misconduct allegations. One staff member described the work environment between 2012 and 2020 under the trio’s influence as a “boys’ club above the law,” according to a report by The Guardian.
François was found guilty of sexual harassment, psychological harassment, and attempted sexual assault; he received a suspended sentence of three years and a fine of €30,000. He was accused of regularly watching adult videos at work and making sexual remarks. One incident he was accused of involved him tying a female staff member to a chair with tape and pushing her into an elevator. He also allegedly forced a woman wearing a skirt to do handstands. Another incident involved him trying to forcibly kiss a female staff member at a 2015 office party while his colleagues restrained her by the arms.
Hascoët was found guilty of psychological harassment and complicity in sexual harassment, and was given an 18-month suspended sentence and a €45,000 fine.
He was acquitted of sexual harassment and complicity in psychological harassment. Hascoët was accused of making racist comments to a Muslim employee after the 2015 Paris terrorist attack, and that same employee allegedly endured further racial harassment under Hascoët’s watch. Other employees accused him of uncomfortable or vulgar behavior, including handing an employee a tissue he had blown into and encouraging her to sell it, saying, “It’s worth gold at Ubisoft.” He also allegedly forced subordinates to perform personal tasks, such as going to his house and waiting for deliveries.
Patrux was found guilty of psychological harassment and received a 12-month suspended sentence and €10,000 fine. He was accused of drawing swastikas on a subordinate’s notebook, cracking a whip near a staff member’s face, threatening to carry out an office shooting, punching walls, throwing office equipment, and lighting an employee’s beard on fire.
These cases are just a drop in the bucket of ongoing harassment in the games industry, both within and beyond the workplace. Marginalized game developers and players alike face mistreatment at unprecedented levels post-Gamergate, and extremist ideology continues to fester globally. Now more than ever, we have to look out for each other.
