Last year, Ubisoft was thrown into the spotlight thanks to reports of a sexually harassing work culture, which prompted the studio to shed several executives accused of harassment, promise “real change” to the way it handles harassment reports, and field a lawsuit from a French game dev union.
It’s that promise of change that is now being called in to question after a Kotaku reporter spoke with multiple former and current devs at the studio, who complain that the new policies are still not effectively handling existing harassment accusations; reports filed to the new anonymous reporting platforms at multiple Ubisoft studios are apparently going unanswered, with no follow-through or transparency in how they’re being handled, and worker representatives at the French office’s Social and Economic Committee have been shut out of the reporting process. In addition, Ubisoft is yet to meet with workers to discuss worker demands.
The continued mishandling of harassment reports has caused devs to leave Ubisoft in droves, particularly at the Montreal studio, while others are sticking it out in the hopes that improvements will be slowly coming instead of not at all. As one employee puts it, “They are trying. I am exhausted but hopeful.”
