A former member of Ubisoft's human resources department has said that the company's management did not trust employees who complained about harassment.
In a new report by Bloomberg, the anonymous member of staff said that those who came forward about harassment, abuse, bullying or other misconduct were distrusted, which limited what HR was allowed to do.
This comes amid a wave of allegations of shitty behaviour by Ubisoft staff as part of a tide of accusations that has swept the industry.
The French publishing giant has launched an investigation into those accused, with CEO Yves Guillemot vowing to "personally" follow all allegations. Ubisoft editorial boss Maxime Béland has departed the firm due to accusations levelled against him, while chief creative officer Serge Hascoët resigned earlier in July. Canadian studio boss Yannis Mallat has also left the company and chief talent and comms officer Cécile Cornet has stepped down.
Christophe Derennes has taken over as head of Ubisoft Montreal following Mallat's departure, with executive director of worldwide studios Christine Burgress Quemard looking after the publisher's remaining Canadian developers.
Sexism at the company has apparently impacted the games Ubisoft produces, too. According to Bloomberg's report, the firm's marketing team and some execs believe that female protagonists don't sell games, which has led to reluctance to have a woman lead its Assassin's Creed franchise. Titles in the series, including Odyssey, Syndicate and Origins, initially gave more screen time to their female heroes, but their roles were cut down because of the aforementioned sales concerns.