The French gaming publisher Ubisoft will hold its big press conference Ubisoft Forward digitally this evening on July 12th, due to the cancellation of E3 2020. Information, release dates, and trailers are expected for games like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion, The Division 2, and Hyper Space. However, on the night before the event, it was revealed that top executives like Serge Hascoët and Yannis Mallat are leaving.
These executives are leaving:
- Serge Hascoët, he is the “Chief Creative Officer” at Ubisoft. He was considered the number 2 behind president Yves Guillemot. He had the final creative say on major Ubisoft games.
- Yannis Mallat, he is the head of Ubisoft’s studios in Canada, also a very important man
- Cécile Cornet, she is the “Global Head of HR”, thus the head of personnel for the entire corporation
The 3 executives reportedly “decided to resign themselves”. It is also known that Hascoët and Mallat will leave the company immediately.
This is why they are resigning: The US site Kotaku has published an internal memo from Ubisoft announcing the departures of the top executives. There, Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, personally explains that they are reviewing the “whole organization” and want to respond to the allegations made in recent weeks.
The current personnel changes are steps on how they will redefine “the way we work together”. Ubisoft is now striving for an “open and inclusive” culture.
In this way, Ubisoft wants to reorganize itself and primarily strengthen the HR department. Furthermore, Ubisoft aims to seek high-quality international help. Now is the right time for change.
This resembles statements and actions from Riot Games in 2018, where they even brought on a Harvard professor to review and change the corporate culture.
Ubisoft shaken by allegations of sexual harassment
These are the allegations against Ubisoft: In recent weeks, accusations have arisen that women at Ubisoft have been sexually harassed. One of the most severe incidents reportedly occurred in 2014 at Ubisoft Toronto. One of the managers allegedly choked an employee at an office party. If she had wanted to complain about him afterward, she would have had to do so through the HR office, but the head of HR was the man who choked her (via kotaku).
In addition to this incident, there are many other allegations, which Ubisoft now appears to be responding to quite drastically.
Both the US site Kotaku and the French newspaper Libération have published articles and insider reports in which affected individuals speak out.
The discussion is about systemic problems:
- There have been incidents of harassment, abuse, and even physical assaults within the company
- Moreover, Ubisoft has not handled complaints about such incidents correctly
At the moment, the gaming industry is shaken by allegations of sexual harassment. This began on June 20th with allegations against a Destiny streamer and has since continued like an avalanche.
Important press conference takes place this evening
This is the event this evening: The timing could hardly be stranger for Ubisoft. This evening, on July 12th, the event “Ubisoft Forward” will take place at 8 PM. This is a digital press conference. It replaces the big press conference that Ubisoft typically holds at E3 2020. E3 2020 has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Information about several major titles is expected:
- Trackmania
- Ghost Recon Breakpoint – the failed shooter is something Ubisoft wants to turn around
- The Division 2
- Just Dance 2020
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
- Watch Dogs: Legion – the game was delayed due to the flops The Division 2 and Breakpoint
- Hyper Scape – the new shooter is currently Ubisoft’s hope
- Far Cry 6 – a major leak has already been found here
- and some surprises
For the readers of MeinMMO, The Division 2, Watch Dogs: Legion, and Hyper Scape will surely be of particular interest.
We will report on the event today in a live ticker on MeinMMO.
No statements in the stream from Ubisoft Forward
Update 7:10 PM: Ubisoft has announced via Twitter that Ubisoft Forward is pre-recorded and therefore will not include a statement regarding the current incidents.
This marks the second major restructuring within a year that Ubisoft is now undergoing. In autumn 2019, Ubisoft announced that it would change its production processes after some new titles significantly underperformed:
Ubisoft delays Watch Dogs 3 and the new Rainbow Six – Due to 2 flops
