Fuck Ubisoft. I have not bought any of their product since 2016 and won't buy anything in future.
Jason Schreier: Story on ubisoft misconduct
- Thread starter Milennia
- Start date
Wow the culture sounds like absolute trash, hope this story picks up stream over here in the states. Feel for all those who had to deal with this crap.
What's your source on this?
Perhaps game devs can chime in, but I'm sure when this topic was raised before, it was noted that people who worked on the game rely on the success for incentives.
That's a bullshit excuse used to rationalise away any company facing consequences for their actions.
Racism, homophobia, sexism...it seems so strange on the surface when you consider Watch Dogs 2 and AC Odyssey but apparently Ubisoft is just rotten to the core. Fucking hell. How do you ignore this shit, be aware of it and still give the same problematic scumbags power and promotions?
That part is just so fucking sickening. Its baffling to me why anyone would get enjoyment from hurting others like this perpetually. I don't understand it. Ubisoft needs entirely new leadership at this point
Finished reading.
What a complete shitshow the environment was amongst all those Ubisoft companies. The complete mindbending of women into submission and even the racist remarks on Ubisoft Sofia. So disgusting and all we can hope, since Guillemot isn't going anywhere, is that he truly changes culture, if not because he truly feels that way, but because he was pressured into it.
Also haven't forgot about Insomniac and that shit PR response they had about allegations. Hopefully Jason is working on that too.
What a complete shitshow the environment was amongst all those Ubisoft companies. The complete mindbending of women into submission and even the racist remarks on Ubisoft Sofia. So disgusting and all we can hope, since Guillemot isn't going anywhere, is that he truly changes culture, if not because he truly feels that way, but because he was pressured into it.
Also haven't forgot about Insomniac and that shit PR response they had about allegations. Hopefully Jason is working on that too.
Yeah well welcome to capitalism, where money is punishment and reward. That's all Ubisoft cares about, and depriving them of it is the only way to actually make change.
You're giving Ubisoft a way out that it doesn't deserve.
Suspected that ACO bullshit when Kassandra was technically suppose to be canonical character, but was basically ignored for marketing.
Anyways, god what vile pieces of shit Hascoët and his band of cronies were. Him having so much power within Ubisoft and being HR immune is an incredibly toxic combo that of course spawned this end result.
Anyways, god what vile pieces of shit Hascoët and his band of cronies were. Him having so much power within Ubisoft and being HR immune is an incredibly toxic combo that of course spawned this end result.
This is some textbook nominative determinism going on here. A life devoted to being......a bellend. Disgusting stuff.So I was right in calling him Maxime Bellend back when he took over Splinter Cell, he's even worse. What a horrible person.
The Toronto office was especially problematic, six current or former employees there say. The studio was run by Maxime Béland, his wife, Rima Brek, and another husband-and-wife management team. Brek served for a time as interim director of HR, the people there say. Two women who reported incidents to Brek and other HR representatives in Toronto say they felt ostracized afterward and were labeled as troublemakers. Brek didn't respond to requests for comment.Béland was a trusted lieutenant of the creative chief. He was also known for his quick temper and a tendency to scream at subordinates during meetings, say four people who worked in the office. Two of those people say they saw Béland touch women inappropriately at holiday parties and other work events. Béland was also accused of choking an employee at a party, according to the video game website Kotaku. The choking story was regularly shared among staff in Toronto, say the people who worked there, as a warning about the executive. Béland didn't respond to multiple requests for comment.
Yeah. I'm glad they're both being kept open at least, but the topic of this thread isn't what should be getting the spotlight. A business decision (while shitty and ignorant) is not comparable to attacks such as:
Obviously this should be discussed too, but maybe the OP could do a better job of highlighting the weight of what's happening at Ubi so someone doesn't come in here and walk away thinking this could be brushed under the rug.
- nonconsensual drugging of employees
- physical abuse
- HR ignoring complaints
- sexist and fatphobic remarks
Jason Schreier: Story on ubisoft misconduct
www.resetera.com
Quoting myself from the other thread, and glad this one is being left open too.
That's more of an industry wide issue rather than Ubisoft specifically, but I'll be amazed if this doesn't lead to some strong positive change within Ubisoft. I get that most people aren't interested in thinking about the potential for positive change until the perpetrators are dealt with, and I share the concerns about how much change Guillemot will enact, but it's still worth keeping an eye on imo. I'm genuinely more interested in how they promote positive change from this going forwards, rather than how they clean out the current leadership, but I'm not in any way suggesting the latter isn't important. Just noting that a lot of good might finally come from this, and I'm really glad to see their feet being held to the fires here.
I have heard about similar stuff in other industries, where the big guy makes some meetings in strip clubs (which of course most women and some men dont want to attend to). And then "funnily" the guy that go are the ones that tend to get promotions.
Fucking awful. I was going to support them with BGE2 and a possible future Rayman but not if this toxic culture continues to happen.
It's such a fucking joke.
How Ubi let this happen and seemingly is going to continue to let this happen is embarrassing.
I am really glad Jason is now working for a bigger name like Bloomberg which will give articles like this more exposure. These horrible people will need to be held accountable and faces the consequences.
Jim Sterling jokingly accused IGN of being capable of reviewing The Birth of a Nation (1915) while only talking about cinematography. And look how they reported on exactly this story:
www.ign.com
It´s interesting to know that Ubi had its own version of Isaac Perlmutter (Marvel) who thought that girls are icky and don´t belong in media in leading roles but having that as your leading story with only vague mentions of the rest. Yikes. A direct quote from the end of the article.
"However, Bloomberg's report – which is very much worth reading in full – shows the level to which a culture of abuse and toxicity appears to have been ingrained in parts of the company, and the amount of work that needs to be done to help correct that."
What are these accusations IGN? Might it be criminal offenses? Could it be that the gaming press is trying to sweep the worst workforce abuse scandal of this industry under the rug? Nah, our paragons of journalistic integrity would never do this. Jim was right in this week´s Jimquisition, again. Thx IGN.
Thx for Schreier, Sterling (the Escapist refused to run his review of AC: Unity to not upset Ubisoft so he walked) and even Kotaku & Polygon who I usually can´t stand for speaking up. I don´t want to see another EA bad meme again as things stand now. Ubisoft is easily the worst publisher the industry ever faced.
Multiple Assassin's Creed Games Reportedly Scrapped or Minimised Female Lead Roles Before Release - IGN
Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey all reportedly had pre-release plans changed to boost male leads.
"However, Bloomberg's report – which is very much worth reading in full – shows the level to which a culture of abuse and toxicity appears to have been ingrained in parts of the company, and the amount of work that needs to be done to help correct that."
What are these accusations IGN? Might it be criminal offenses? Could it be that the gaming press is trying to sweep the worst workforce abuse scandal of this industry under the rug? Nah, our paragons of journalistic integrity would never do this. Jim was right in this week´s Jimquisition, again. Thx IGN.
Thx for Schreier, Sterling (the Escapist refused to run his review of AC: Unity to not upset Ubisoft so he walked) and even Kotaku & Polygon who I usually can´t stand for speaking up. I don´t want to see another EA bad meme again as things stand now. Ubisoft is easily the worst publisher the industry ever faced.
Answer:
and yes i think there was a nice fat final payment and shake hands before he "left"
The disappearing of BGE2 might have something to do with this culture of catering to one guy's toxic tastes, the game probably was not able to be changed to what he wanted and got cut, but Ubi won't say it to not look bad.
I forget why but I boycotted Ubi for the longest time and was coming around after the Rabbids Mario game and new Anno. But they are going right back to boycott territory again.
It is quite something how rank and file folks at Ubisoft managed to get anything done while having to deal with harassers and manchildren.
Sadly Yves isn't going anywhere. I just hope, to quote Facundo Cabral:
'if bad people knew that being a good person is good for business, they would be good, even if it just for business'.
Sadly Yves isn't going anywhere. I just hope, to quote Facundo Cabral:
'if bad people knew that being a good person is good for business, they would be good, even if it just for business'.
@mael There is a reason I posted here and not there but the Odysse one has 3 times the comments. Unless you mean Origins. It's trailing far behind. It´s the old game after all but both had the same problem of girls icky doctrines being sent down from the top.
Kassandra is technically the canon lead but a book made that a thing, not the game. I played as her due to that.
Here is the man, the myth, the Trump insider who tried to stop the billion-dollar Captain Marvel and Black Panther (also Black Widdow):
time.com
This industry is still riddled with such scumbags. He is currently working for Trump, he put the maximum amount in his reelection campaign and Marvel is trying to sweet him under the rug. Ike is still with Marvel. His net worth is $4.4 billion.
And don´t worry folks. All the abusers got their golden parachutes from Ubi. Watch this latest Jimquestion:
www.youtube.com
Kassandra is technically the canon lead but a book made that a thing, not the game. I played as her due to that.
Here is the man, the myth, the Trump insider who tried to stop the billion-dollar Captain Marvel and Black Panther (also Black Widdow):
Marvel CEO: Female Superhero Movies Have Been a 'Disaster'
The leaked email comes in the wake of accusations of sexism against Marvel
And don´t worry folks. All the abusers got their golden parachutes from Ubi. Watch this latest Jimquestion:
Ubisoft Spent Years Protecting Mental And Physical Abusers (The Jimquisition)
http://www.patreon.com/jimquisitionhttp://www.thejimquisition.comhttps://www.thejimporium.comThis is another heavy episode containing discussion of abuse. A ...
www.youtube.com
It's not.
If you're a dev who spent years on a game -- seeing it fail because the top brass are dicks is hardly great.
I understand that it is a strong weapon against Ubi, but it's definitely not one without consequences.
I shouldn't be surprised but it still upsetting.@mael There is a reason I posted here and not there but the Odysse one has 3 times the comments. Unless you mean Origins. It's trailing far behind. It´s the old game after all but both had the same problem of girls icky doctrines being sent down from the top.
Kassandra is technically the canon lead but a book made that a thing, not the game. I played as her due to that.
Here is the man, the myth, the Trump Insider who tried to stop the billion-dollar Captain Marvel and Black Panther:
This industry is still riddled with such scumbags. He is now working for Trump and Marvel is trying to sweet him under the rug. He is still with Marvel. His net worth is US$4.4 billion. And don´t worry folks. All the abusers got their golden parachutes from Ubi. Watch this latest Jimquestion:Marvel CEO: Female Superhero Movies Have Been a 'Disaster'
The leaked email comes in the wake of accusations of sexism against Marvel
Ubisoft Spent Years Protecting Mental And Physical Abusers (The Jimquisition)
http://www.patreon.com/jimquisitionhttp://www.thejimquisition.comhttps://www.thejimporium.comThis is another heavy episode containing discussion of abuse. A ...
And "good" on Marvel for getting rid of that Trump stain.
and yeah the abusers get golden parachutes but if you're a "creative genius" but you go against management you get fired and sued like Desillet.
Ubisoft is rotten to the core.
It's BS because rank&file are still gonna get axed regardless.
Did we just forget that ATVI had one of its biggest year in 2019 and still axed a lot of folks while giving a nice bonus to the CEO?
At this point even if the game is a failure or not, the rank&file will be treated like shit anyway.
I mean this industry is known for post launch firing FFS!
It's pretty damn apparent that the leadership is scummy and nothing is going to change. Yeah, they're not getting my money or clicks any longer.
The most disappointing part of this entire debacle is how the majority of gamers just don't care. Looks like rampant mismanagement and sexism don't cross the line for many folks, they'll happily buy the game day one.
The most disappointing part of this entire debacle is how the majority of gamers just don't care. Looks like rampant mismanagement and sexism don't cross the line for many folks, they'll happily buy the game day one.
I mean look at the threads here at era, even here there was/is very little interest in all this stuff., there were two threads, barely frequented.
in general people are more interested in their vidya games and it seems many people don´t want to hear/read this stuff because they don´t want to be remembered on the scandals when the next big Ubi game releases. sad but true.
but its good that Jim Sterling and Jason Schreier did a video/article on it, maybe this raises more awareness.
They wont. And don't act like this culture is exclusive to Ubisoft.
You could shit in a gamer's mouth and they'd be asking for more as long as give them their fix.
Remember that youtuber that looked straight at the camera and said in a contrite voice something like "Game companies, you should top being bad"
That's the extent of the pushback you can expect.
The fucking TLOU2 backlash was all about the morons not liking a character that was shown to be a monster get its due because he was a protagonist before.
You can never think to lowly of an average gamer.
I mean I certainly hope the whole conducting business in stip clubs is unique to Ubisoft.
That would make sense. I haven't bought an Ubi game in years and I will continue to do just that.
Conducting business in strip clubs is actually very common in the US across all industries (banking, consulting, tech, etc)
And they say French people can't adapt!
I would hope that this wouldn't be the case in the gaming industry but then again it's one of the worst one to work in so...
I keep thinking about that tweet feud where devs were calling Jason mean or whatever, and then I read work like this and how vital he is to the consumer about keeping us informed of industry misconduct.
Stay at it Jason fuck all that other noise
Stay at it Jason fuck all that other noise
That's unfortunately true. I guess I was just hoping that hobby enthusiasts would have higher standards and would be more responsible consumers.
Yeah I think I'm done with them as a whole. Company can burn for all I care.
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Which game? Are you saying that Ubisoft are under paying their staff and only paying them a living wage if the game is a sucess?
Jim Sterling jokingly accused IGN of being capable of reviewing The Birth of a Nation (1915) while only talking about cinematography. And look how they reported on exactly this story:
Multiple Assassin's Creed Games Reportedly Scrapped or Minimised Female Lead Roles Before Release - IGN
Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey all reportedly had pre-release plans changed to boost male leads.
Is this their only article on the report? Ugh. "A wide-ranging report"... come on, repeat the strongest offense. Viewers aren't going to click through. Exact issue I just raised with the other thread here, it passively distracts + protects.
which part?
Because thinking about it again yeah the whole conducting business in strip club might have been naive on my part.
That part. Business is frequently conducted in places where it shouldn't be. I think back now and for years women (and some men) have been complaining that too much "work" is done in bars. I thought it was about people with issues with alcohol. :/
it's no different than sommit like Hollywood, they go along with and champion progressive themes and do help to normalize them, but they have their own underbelly full of corruption and hate
As much as people don't want to admit it, ultimately these games aren't made by the higher ups. They're made by the individual developers working there, many of whom ARE decent people. That conversation between Marcus and Horatio in that knock-off Google is something that couldn't have been made by the same fuckwits that called John Boyega a monkey. This is the problem with massive fucking corporations that have 12k people. You'll have tons of decent people and then some serious fucking scumbags who'll get positions they don't deserve and ruin everything.
I can quite understand how it came to this.
It starts with afterworks.
You go to a place with coworkers after work and while getting coffees and stuffs you talk business in a less formal manner because you've been off work not so long ago and your mind is till on that.
But it's not mandatory so if people wanna talk about the lattest football game, sure.
Then people take alcohol and then people want to take more and more time and they go party and it ends in a strip club.
Fast forward a few months/years and you end with a clique doing official business overtime in stipclubs.
If you have one of the leaders as part of the clique you end up with a Ubisoft situation.
If we're being honest, the bits are gonna be snuck in by low rank and files while the racist heads use that claim how progressive they are while making their hardest to make sure status quo is ALWAYS the same.
At the end of the day the decent people are never rewarded and will at best get minimal rewards and won't even be impacted that badly if their projects don't perform that well.
I mean QA that was gonna get fired is still gonna get fired even if the game is phenomenon.
Correct. To be sure, this is absolutely something that happens in multiple businesses. Hell, Japanese salaryman culture basically says you can't advance unless you go out and have drinks with your boss. Are those drinks at a strip club? Maybe, maybe not. But ultimately it shouldn't be forced on you to go out drinking and be "friends" with your boss to advance.