The Ubisoft misconduct scandal has been brewing for a long time. The issues brought to light over the years of the French’s company’s behavior are shameful, and it’s long-past time for something to be done about it. For those that are wondering what I’m talking about, a recap is pretty easy to do. In short, the company has been plagued by a years-long pattern of ignoring claims of abuse and harassment at the publisher, the company’s Chief People Officer.
The allegations broke in June 2020, and alleged widespread abuse from the top of the compan at offices in France, Canada and Singapore that had gone unpunished for years. GameSpot initially reported the letter, showing that the company may be beyond redemption at this point. According to the report, “The survey showed that roughly 25% have experienced or witnessed some form of workplace misconduct in the past two years, and that 1 in 5 do not feel fully respected or safe in the work environment.”
And now, the company is finally breaking its silence. “At the beginning of the crisis, we spent a lot of time making sure that we had the right process in place, that we were able to very quickly and efficiently run an investigation and get to some outcomes,” Ubisoft chief people officer Anika Grant said during a recent interview.
Grant is now committing to better follow-through for workers who report misconduct. “That’s something right now we are 100% focused on fixing,” she said.
But on the other side of the issue, employees and advocates for Ubisoft don’t seem impressed. The gesture is pretty simple, but people are skeptical that it will have any real impact. On Twitter, the workers asked for a more clear process that they would be directly involved in. This kind of issue won’t go away easily, and it would require a thorough and effective solution at all levels of Ubisoft.
But with the statement, at least the company is acknowledging the problem. Let’s hope this whole thing actually ends up somewhere positive.
