Ubisoft Executive Tommy Francois Exits After Sexual Misconduct Accusations

Francois is the sixth Ubisoft executive to leave the company after misconduct allegations in recent months

Ubisoft
Photo: Getty Images

Ubisoft vice president of editorial and creative services Tommy Francois left the company August 3 after numerous accusations by multiple female employees of sexual harassment and inappropriate workplace behavior.

Francois was previously placed on temporary leave by Ubisoft June 29 after accusations of his conduct surfaced on Twitter.

Business Insider first reported the news and said Ubisoft announced Francois’ departure in a July 31 email to staff. Ubisoft confirmed Francois departure to TheWrap on Monday.

Francois is the sixth executive to depart Ubisoft in the last two months. While at Ubisoft he was responsible for driving the production and marketing of Ubisoft’s key gaming franchises, which include the “Assassin’s Creed” series and the “Watch Dogs” franchise. He reported directly to chief creative officer Serge Hascoët, who himself stepped down July 11 after widespread reports that those under his supervision (including Francois and vice president of editorial Maxime Beland) were frequently abusing or harassing coworkers.

Many of the allegations to surface stem from Ubisoft’s Toronto and Montreal offices. The head of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios, Tannis Mallat, resigned from his post in July.

Ashraf Ismail, creative director on upcoming “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” game, stepped down from the project in late June after allegations of infidelity surfaced online. The game is still slated to come out on various game consoles and PC this November.

In early July French workers union Solidaires Informatique recruited labor lawyer Maude Beckers to lead a class action lawsuit against Ubisoft to support workers and seek reparations for the widespread abuse within the game developer. Solidaires Informatique implied in a recent statement that there are still more Ubisoft executives that could be held accountable for inappropriate behavior.

Global head of human resources Cecile Cornet also reportedly stepped down from her role at Ubisoft in response to complaints that her office did little to mitigate or properly handle the abuse claims.

“The exclusion of a few prominent individuals such as Serge Hascoët is not enough, as those who have benefited from the group’s activities are hiding under their leadership,” the union said in its statement. “These are not isolated cases and failures from the Human Resources department, when it seems that there is a company policy that values its profits before the health and safety of its employees.”

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