The executive shake-up at Ubisoft is still ongoing. Co-vice president Tommy François has left the company. Ubisoft confirmed the departure in a statement to GameSpot, saying it is “effective immediately.” [Update: Despite the language Ubisoft originally used in its statement–it simply said “Tommy Francois has left the company”–he was actually fired, according to Gamasutra. A source indicated to the site that he was terminated with cause, meaning he did not receive a financial settlement. The site notes, however, that he will not lose out on any stock in the company he had acquired during his tenure and that French law may prevented Ubisoft from announcing his departure as a firing, hence the language in its original statement.]
The company didn’t share further details on François’ departure. He had previously been placed on disciplinary leave pending an investigation into the allegations of sexual assault and harassment at the company. Reports of his departure began circulating from Business Insider reporter Samuel Horti, who said the other investigations remain ongoing. François was part of the editorial team in charge of greenlighting projects, and also worked on writing or design for some games.
François is just the latest in a long line of Ubisoft executives who have left following a reckoning with the company’s toxic “frat-house” culture. Others include executives Serge Hascoet, Yannis Mallat, and Cecile Cornet, and global head of HR Cecile Cornet. Assassin’s Creed creative director Ashraf Ismail also left the company in the midst of these revelations, seemingly for personal reasons.
Ubisoft has promised large structural changes and various investigations in light of the accusations but has been mostly quiet with its public statements about the issue. It chose not to address the abuse allegations at its Ubisoft Forward event, and CEO Yves Guillemot was notably evasive in response to direct questions at a recent investor Q&A.
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