Three former senior executives of French video game giant Ubisoft — game makers such as Assassin’s Creed and The Far Crying — were tried on Monday.
Serge Hascoët, Thomas “Tommy” François and Guillaume Patrux appeared in court on allegations of psychological abuse, sexual harassment and attempted sexual assault.
The trial will last until Friday. In a week, the judge will hear narratives from six women and three men, as well as charges from two unions.
The defendants denied all charges against them.
Ubisoft Booth – Associated Press Photos
Ubisoft Omerta began to break down in 2020. Three years ago, Ubisoft employees tried to report psychological harassment to his superiors. Response? “You stop talking about this right away. Ubisoft has no problem.”
But then was an in-depth investigation by French publications Libération and Numerama. The inspection shows that working conditions plagued harassment, humiliation and discriminatory comments.
Anonymous testimony appeared on social media accusing the company of a toxic work culture, and Ubisoft subsequently conducted an internal investigation in 2020.
Investigators spoke with dozens of witnesses during the investigation, but “many people refused to file a complaint because they were concerned about the reaction of the video game community.”
Still, the influx of testimony paints what happened behind the walls of Ubisoft’s studio.
Serge Hascoët, 59, the chief creative officer of Ubisoft and a second-class official who resigned after the charges were accused of sexual harassment and bullying. He has also been accused of making racist comments. He allegedly told staff that a senior employee was upset by not having enough sex and that he should have sex with her in the conference room in front of everyone, “showing how to calm her.”
Thomas François, 52, is a former vice president of editorial and creative services, is accused of forcing a young employee who had just hired to do a handstand in an open office while wearing a skirt. He also allegedly watched porn movies in open offices, and at an office Christmas party in 2015, he allegedly tried to kiss a colleague in the mouth because his other colleagues restricted the woman. She said she managed to release the incident and felt “painful.”
Patrux, 41, was charged with psychological harassment and fired for serious misconduct. He allegedly imitated the batting staff, whipped a whip near the face of his colleague and sat in a meeting near her in a woman’s notebook.
Among other examples of Ubisoft’s management’s accomplice or indifferent, including shameful examples of public humiliation. For example, a young Muslim worker allegedly found her screen saver changed to the image of a bacon sandwich, which was thrown at her during Ramadan.
Other women made regular sexual comments to police allegations that they were called “sluts” and were told to wear shorter skirts. “This is an invitation to rape,” said an executive, an executive, who allegedly said, “a woman in a red-lined coat.”
Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft -2015 – Associated Press Photos
This week’s trial is a pivotal moment in the gaming industry, known as the #MeToo moment by some in the video game “Boys Club.” Indeed, the predominantly male video game publishing industry has been reviewing for years in the way women and minorities and the described ways in which these groups are described.
However, some believe that this week’s trial is not enough.
“This trial could be a model,” said Marc Rutschlé, a coalition representative for Solidaires Informatique. He told l’Humanité: “It’s not three isolated people who created this widespread atmosphere of harassment. Their impunity.
Indeed, Ubisoft is engaging in caution, as neither the HR department nor any representative of the company as a legal entity or its CEO, Yves Guillemot, will appear in court.
Guillemot allegedly referred to some of the allegations as “generational differences in perspectives” and “creative friction.”
The trial lasted until Friday and until Friday.
