Ubisoft‘s management probably breathed a sign of relief when Activision Blizzard stole the crown for fostering one of the most toxic work environments in the video games industry. But a group of employees has issued a fresh letter, reiterating simple demands that Ubisoft has failed to meet thus far.
To his credit, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot seems to have a better PR department than Activision Blizzard’s Bobby Kotick in that he gave an excellent impression of wanting to make changes by immediately launching third-party investigations, and penning numerous mea culpas whereas Kotick spent a week denying the allegations. Ubisoft also didn’t have a lawsuit to face, so found itself in a better position to sweep things under the rug.
Where a lot of revered Blizzard figureheads ended up getting the boot, Ubisoft let go of a few employees and then moved Guillemot’s close group of friends around to different positions despite numerous complaints.
Fortunately, the employee group hasn’t given up. Its four key demands are outlined below.
- Stop promoting and moving known offenders from studio to studio, team to team with no repercussions. This cycle needs to end.
- We want a collective seat at the table, to have meaningful say in how Ubisoft as a company moves forward from here.
- Cross-industry collaboration to agree on a set of ground rules and processes that all studios can use to handle these offenses in the future.
- This collaboration must heavily involve employees in non-management positions and union representatives.
It remains to be seen how Guillemot will respond to the demands in his next call with investors.
[Source: Twitter]
