“He seemed untouchable”: Ubisoft chief creative producer suspended from work after harassment allegations

Company Ubisoft dismissed two top managers from work at once amid massive accusations of harassment and inappropriate behavior towards employees. This is about Serge Haskoete and Yannis Malate.

The dismissal of the first caused the greatest resonance. As the editor notes Bloomberg Jason SchreyerSerge Haskoet was one of Ubisoft’s key representatives – he was responsible for the production of all the company’s games in general, including the Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs series, acting as the main creative producer.

“For Ubisoft, this is a very serious step. Haskoet was responsible for ALL the company’s games. His only word was enough to give the project a green light or cancel it,” Schreier wrote.

According to an investigative journalist who is now preparing another piece of material about Ubisoft’s internal kitchen, Haskoet seemed to be “untouchable” by ordinary employees of the company. – no one believed that he could be fired, even if there were too many charges.

“It’s awesome,” Schreyer added, commenting on CEO Yves Guillot’s decision to break up with Haskoet.

Another detached top manager, Yannis Mallat, led the Canadian division of Ubisoft, where many of the company’s key hits were created. Recently, however, such a large number of employees at Ubisoft Canada Studios have reported an inappropriate workplace atmosphere that the publisher simply cannot continue to work with Mallat, the statement said.

Amid the chaos in Ubisoft and massive complaints, the global director of the company’s personnel management unit Cecile Cornet announced her resignation, in fact admitting that she could not cope with the work. She concluded that her decision would benefit the manufacturer.

Several major publications continue to investigate the “horrors of Ubisoft.” The French newspaper Liberation reports that it is aware of 100+ cases of unacceptable behavior in publisher studios. They range from harassment to rape, both in the workplace and outside the office. Journalists write that Haskoet “acted like a god”, allowed himself a lot of excess and did not try to interfere with illegal actions in relation to ordinary employees by other managers. About half the cases of harassment, the HR department allegedly knew, but he did not try to rectify the situation.

Ubisoft President Yves Guillot announced that after Haskoet’s dismissal, he will temporarily take his post. A search is now underway for new specialists and a complete internal transformation of the company is underway. The ultimate goal is to create the most open and inclusive workplace, where there is no place for toxicity and harassment, and all cases will be quickly tracked thanks to the new complaints system.

Earlier, vice presidents of the production department were removed from work at Ubisoft.

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