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It’s come to light that Ubisoft’s Singapore studio is now under investigation by a local watchdog over alleged unfairness and sexual harassment.
A report by The Straits Times claims the national watchdog for fair employment practices is investigating the studio. The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) told the outlet it received anonymous complaints last month in the days following an extensive Kotaku report into the studio.
Kotaku’s report was based on interviews with over 20 current and former employees at the studio. They included claims of issues that included sexual harassment, racial pay disparities and bullying by management. Many of these issues, the report claimed, occurred while the studio was under the leadership of former managing director Hugues Ricour. Ricour was removed from his position at the studio in November of last year, with an explanation from Ubisoft reading “The results of the leadership audit that was conducted in the last few weeks by our external partners makes it impossible for him to continue in this position.”
It’s believed the audit which led to his removal was related to the internal investigations Ubisoft said it was carrying out over the last year following previous accusations of a toxic workplace environment across the company. However, it also came to light that Ricour still remains with the company in a different position of production intelligence director, based at the publisher’s Paris HQ. While things have improved since Ricour was replaced with Daryl Long at Singapore, it’s said that many issues—including alleged pay disparities—still remain.
According to The Straits Times, if Ubisoft Singapore is found to still be in breach of workplace discrimination laws, they could be barred from applying for new work passes for foreign staff for up to two years. Any sexual misconduct breaches, meanwhile, will be passed to law enforcement with the potential of fines, jail time and even caned. The studio could also face lawsuits.
In response to the allegations, Ubisoft Singapore told The Straits Times that it had “invested into a dedicated learning path to support Singaporeans and help staff take on leadership opportunities here”. It also claimed that “compensation is determined by role, responsibility, market practices and performance.”
Current director Daryl Long also mentioned how the studio, currently working on Skull & Bones, has hired a third-party company to look into complaints and said “we have taken concrete action to formalise how misconduct is dealt with.” The studio has apparently pledged to the Singapore Women in Tech government initiative to create more management opportunities for women.
“I understand that Ubisoft Singapore has been mentioned in the news lately,” Long concluded. “I acknowledge that the studio has seen some challenges over the past decade and there is still work to be done about our studio culture.”
Ubisoft employees recently added their voice to an open letter from employees of Activision Blizzard following that company’s own lawsuit over alleged workplace harassment. The latter also slammed “empty promises” from Ubisoft management, saying “We need real, fundamental changes, within Ubisoft, within Activision Blizzard and across the industry.”
