Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot has released a lengthy statement meant to lay out the progress he says his company has made since last summer’s devastating reports of sexual harassment and toxic working environments within various teams across the business.
The post, published to Ubisoft’s blog, comes in the wake of a French report in Le Télégramme this month that claimed the company had made only minimal changes. Ubisoft rebutted some of that report at the time, while today’s statement from the very top of the company doubles down further.
“Last June, we faced the fact that not all team members were experiencing the safe and inclusive workplace that we had always intended Ubisoft to be,” Guillemot writes. “Since then, we have engaged in a company-wide effort to listen, learn and build a roadmap for a better Ubisoft for all.
“With this in mind, I want to summarise the work we have done and the direction in which we are headed.”
Guillemot says 14,000 Ubisoft employees took part in “group-wide assessments, including an anonymous questionnaire” while 2000 employees took part in “focus groups and listening sessions”. There has been anti-harassment training, with more modules to follow.
The company’s HR organisation was audited by an outside company, Guillemot continues, and “as a result we strengthened our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies”. A new company code of conduct is being introduced next month, which will be mandatory for all staff to sign.