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Five former Ubisoft employees have been arrested following a police investigation. As per GamesIndustry.biz, three of the executives were arrested yesterday and the other two were detained today. Serge Hascoët, former chief creative officer, and Tommy François, former VP of editorial and creative services, were among those arrested.
Both Hascoët and François stepped down following abuse allegations in 2020 with other Ubisoft senior management. Liberation, the French publication that originally reported on the incident, didn’t name the others in custody. These arrests follow a lawsuit filed by Solidaires Informatique, a French labor union, and at least two plaintiffs in 2021. A lawyer involved with the case claimed that the results revealed “systemic sexual violence.”
When GameSpot reached out to Ubisoft for comment, a company spokesperson replied, “Ubisoft has no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”
Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier originally broke the news about Ubisoft’s “frat-house” culture in 2020. Even after senior management stepped down, employees spoke about the “fear and oppression” they felt while working there. Other notable executives like Maxime Beland, who also resigned after abuse and assault allegations, were absent from the Liberation report.
No information regarding specific charges has been revealed as of yet, but we’ll report back as we learn more.
