Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has addressed the recent controversies surrounding the company – including allegations of serious sexual misconduct directed at senior staff – in a video statement released ahead of tonight’s big Ubisoft Forward livestream event.
Alluding to, although not directly acknowledging the multiple reports of sexual misconduct involving members of senior management that have surfaced since June – including Splinter Cell and Far Cry creative director Maxime Béland, vice president Tommy Francois, and marketer Andrien Gbinigie – Guillemot offered his apologies for what he called “internal issues that have come to light recently”, outlining what the company is now doing in response.
“This summer, we learned that certain Ubisoft employees did not uphold our company’s values,” explained Guillemot, “and that our systems failed to protect the victims of their behaviour. I am truly sorry to everyone that was hurt”.
As part of Ubisoft’s “long journey” to facilitate “real change”, Guillemot says the company has taken “significant steps to sanction or remove those that violated its values and code of conduct”, and is “working hard to improve [its] systems and processes”.
A Message From Our CEO Yves Guillemot | Ubisoft [NA] Watch on YouTube
Earlier reports have confirmed Béland and Francois, alongside a number of other senior executives, have now resigned from the company, and that Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail was fired following allegations by several women that he had contacted them privately after they revealed they were fans of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.