Former Ubisoft execs questioned in French sexual assault investigation

Five former Ubisoft employees were detained in France this week — three on Tuesday, and two more on Wednesday, according to a report from French newspaper Libération. Former Ubisoft chief creative officer Serge Hascoët and former editorial vice president Tommy François were among the five people detained and questioned by French police.

Ubisoft employees and ex-employees accused the company in 2020 of fostering a culture which normalized and encouraged sexual harassment. Multiple top-level staff were also implicated. In the weeks and months following the allegations, several people resigned or were fired, including Maxime Béland, a former creative director and editorial vice president at Ubisoft Toronto accused of choking a female employee; Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director Ashraf Ismail, accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a fan; HR lead Cécile Cornet; and Ubisoft’s Canadian studio director Yannis Mallat.

Beyond Hascoët and François, Libération did not name the three other people questioned by police.

After the French union Solidaires Informatique, and some impacted employees made complaints about Ubisoft in 2021. According to the French newspaper, police interviewed 50 Ubisoft staffers over a period of one year. Five former Ubisoft personnel were then taken into custody.

Hascoët, François, and others do not appear to have been charged, but French law allows police to arrest and hold people suspected of a crime for up to 24 hours without a charge. Polygon has reached out to the Bobigny, France, judicial court and to the victims’ lawyer, Maude Beckers. We’ll update this story when we hear back.

Beckers told Libération, after she left the police station, that the culture at Ubisoft goes beyond just individual bad behavior and extends into “systemic sexual violence,” in which the company was complacent.

A Ubisoft representative issued the following statement to Polygon: “Ubisoft has no knowledge of what has been shared and therefore can’t comment.”