In an email sent to employees of the company, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot outlined a plan to combat ongoing internal issues of abuse in its studios and provided an update on current investigations. Reports of toxic work environments, sexism, and harassment at Ubisoft have run rampant in the past few weeks, leading to numerous prominent Ubisoft developers fired or otherwise departing their positions.
The email identified areas the company will focus on moving forward, as well as revealing that 2,000 employees participated in listening sessions, 14,000 responded to anonymous surveys, 100 interviews were conducted, and 40 focus groups were held. The plan put forward by Guillemot came in four parts:
- Guarantee a working environment where everyone feels respected and safe.
- Putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.
- Refocus and strengthen our HR function.
- Make the managers of the group accountable and empower them.
An internal survey found that one-in-four Ubisoft employees witnessed abusive behavior. Guillemot, in the past, has rebuked the actions of bad actors within the company, but has repeatedly faced criticism for not doing enough to combat the problem itself. Before the September 2020 Ubisoft Forward presentation, Ubisoft released a video statement about the state of the company, though it wasn't included in the Forward itself, with the company citing time constraints as the reason for its omission.
Ubisoft has struggled to manage the public relations crisis that has resulted from the news. The company has several triple-a games slated to release by the end of this year, but news of the departures, as well as the ongoing investigations, has dominated the conversation in many corners of the internet.
Hostile work environments have become an increasingly common issue in the games industry, not just in terms of toxicity, but also in terms of crunch. Stories of Mandatory crunch at CD Projekt Red, Rockstar, and numerous other studios have repeatedly found their way to the spotlight, many decrying the mismanagement that leads to such intense stretches of grueling labor on the backs of developers.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were increasingly common calls for the games industry to unionize, which many believe would give employees better protections against toxic workplaces, crunch, and layoffs – all of which have become major issues in the games industry as it grows and expands. Those calls have died down, at least for now.
Ubisoft has a long path forward from here. It will take time, and considerable effort, on behalf of Ubisoft executives and management to un-muddy its image. For now, all the company can do is stick to the plan it has laid out, and try to win back some of the favor that it has lost.
Source: IGN