The executive culling at Ubisoft continues as Tommy François, VP of editorial and creative services, appears to have resigned while still on disciplinary leave.
News of François’ resignation first came to light when Business Insider associate editor Samuel Horti put out a tweet yesterday, indicating CEO Yves Guillemot informed remaining members of the editorial staff sometime last week that François was leaving.
NEW – Tommy François has left Ubisoft, CEO Yves Guillemot told staff earlier this week. François, VP of editorial and creative services, was on administrative leave, pending the results of an investigation into sexual harassment at the video game company
— Samuel Horti (@SamuelHorti) August 2, 2020
Horti claimed he had seen the email Guillemot sent out, which also indicated other investigations at the company were still ongoing. Industry site Gamesindustry.biz confirmed François’ departure from the company.
For those who are keeping a running list of the individuals who’ve left or been fired, a brief recap:
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- Serge Hascoët, chief creative officer (His duties are currently being handled by Guillemot personally)
- Yannis Mallat, managing director of Canadian studios (Left at the same time as Hascoët)
- Cécile Cornet, global head of HR (Also left at the same time as Hascoët)
- Maxime Béland, vice president of editorial (Placed on disciplinary leave at the same time as François)
- Stone Chin, PR director (Directly fired rather than resigning after being placed on leave)
- Ashraf Ismail, creative director on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Left after allegations of marital infidelity)
- Still-unnamed Ubisoft Toronto employee (Directly fired; reasons as unknown as identity)
Assuming that the investigation of François is still active and proceeding with the same degree of rigor as the one being conducted for Béland, it’s still unclear what the outcome will be. Guillemot has spoken of restructuring plans, hiring individuals to head up workplace culture and diversity departments, and other internal changes.
Whether any of the individuals who have so far left, or who have yet to go, will face any criminal penalties is currently unknown. Solidaires Informatique, a French labor union, is now preparing a lawsuit against Ubisoft but have not made any comment about filing civil suits against the accused individuals.
