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Ubisoft addresses sexual misconduct allegations, promises investigation & internal policy review

Following the exit of Assassin's Creed Valhalla's creative director over allegations of sexual misconduct, Ubisoft is taking steps to better ensure a safe workplace.
TJ Denzer
TJ Denzer
2

With increasing volume, the gaming industry has recently seen victims of sexual or toxic abuse come forward and speak out about their experiences and the people who took advantage of them. Perhaps one of the more high-profile among these was accusations of an affair and sexual misconduct fielded against Ubisoft and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s former creative director Ashraf Ismail, who exited the project and blacked out his social media when the allegations came to light. Ubisoft has finally made a formal statement on the overall situation, promising to lodge investigations with the help of external forces and audit internal company policies.

Ubisoft made their formal address over the allegations of sexual and toxic misconduct against staff in a website statement on June 25, 2020. In the address, Ubisoft did not formally bring up the situation with Ismail or any other specific allegations, but nonetheless announced its initiative in response to the matter.

“We want to start by apologizing to everyone affected by this,” Ubisoft wrote. “We are truly sorry. We are dedicated to creating an inclusive and safe environment for our teams, players, and communities. It is clear we have fallen short of this in the past. We must do better.”

With Assassin's Creed Valhalla's creative director out, it does put the state of the game in question, but for Ubisoft, its employees, and the gaming industry, there are arguably more important matters at hand.
With Assassin's Creed Valhalla's creative director out, it does put the state of the game in question, but for Ubisoft, its employees, and the gaming industry, there are arguably more important matters at hand.

To that end, Ubisoft aims to begin investigations into the matter and is committing to a review of its internal policies to build an overall better and safer workplace for its employees.

“We have started by launching investigations into the allegations with the support of specialized external consultants,” Ubisoft continued. “Based on the outcomes, we are fully committed to taking any and all appropriate disciplinary action. As these investigations are ongoing, we can't comment further. We are also auditing our existing policies, processes, and systems to understand where these have broken down, and to ensure we can better prevent, detect, and punish inappropriate behavior.”

With the shutdown of Mixer due in part to severe racial toxicity, several partners dropping projects with Chris Avellone over aggressive sexual abuse, and this latest step down of Valhalla’s creative director, it’s increasingly difficult to argue that the gaming industry doesn’t need cleaning out of toxic or predatory elements. As a major force in the business, hopefully Ubisoft’s actions will help create a better environment in the industry.

Senior News Editor
Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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