Change Starts Today

A statement from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot

[VenomUK]

Ubisoft announces plans to make long term structural changes which is a less reactionary way to deal with the issues. What is a positive is that Yves Guillemot has announced a head of diversity who will report directly to him. This is a great way to open up employment in the company to a greater breadth of talented people and ultimately it means that he is fully informed and accountable.

[Cmv38]

What is a more reactionary way, if this is a less reactionary way?

[Hakuoro]

Firing people.

[bouzebbal]

I couldn't care less.. I don't buy their games

[Gaming101]

Investigations are already underway. Most of the steps into improving Human Resources processes are welcome, like providing listening spaces where people can voice their concerns without fear of backlash.

However, creating a director of Diversity and Inclusion will do fuck all for company performance, and will more than likely hurt it of talent, experience and expertise are pushed aside in order to meet randomly assigned race, ethnicity and gender quotas to each department, as if that will magically make a company operate better.

Research shows it's diversity of thought and personality metrics on the Big 5 personality traits, those being Openness to experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism (sensitivity to negative emotions) will improve organizations. Not counting melanin skin cells, or genitalia.

[LightofDarkness]

This is the most proactive response I've seen within the industry yet. Usually it's just "we're launching an internal investigation" (i.e. doing fuck all) and then the angry mob goes away, while they return to business as usual. I'm in no way a Ubisoft fan, for either the quality of their work or how they produce it, but this is a better step than practically anyone else we've seen so far.

[LightofDarkness]

Sure what's a little sexual misconduct among work colleagues, eh? Bloody snowflakes.

Do you have any idea what this is about, or did you just really need to get that off your chest today?

[starchild]

This is just more affirmative action BS. The only form of institutionalized racism in the US today.

People should be judged as individuals based on their own qualities as individuals. If you're not hiring based purely on merit you are hurting your company and furthering racism and division in the world today.

[L7CHAPEL]

I guess Maxime beLand and the other guy are terminated, so much for splinter cell...

[Chexs1990]

As a Danish Persian myself, I hate these Diversity teams which companies are creating.
I want to be employed by the power of my damn skills, not by the color of my skin, or my crooked nose.

[L7CHAPEL]

most companies hate it too, it's a waste of their time/money, and they have to check off all these extra boxes, and go by a bunch of prerequisites because on one hand,
you have people that are so sensitive to anything said, in any way, you can't even have a normal conversation that they don't approve of.
and then you've got fucking idiots,who just don't understand there certain things you can't say/certain ways you can't act around the opposite sex while you're at work, because they don't have any social skills or common sense

[L7CHAPEL]

"head of Diversity"
A.K.A. someone to manage damage - liability.
Corporate diversity?
an placeholder/ figurehead position, filled by a moron, and a ton of stuff on legal paper that we can show plaintiffs attorneys when were being sued...

[garos82]

great now can you focus on making games as good as possible?

[morganfell]

Sadly, games won’t be as good as possible when you’re not hiring and/or appointing people to positions of responsibility based on talent. This is exactly the move a game development and publishing company needed to make when they were already suffering from quality issues.

[VenomUK]

I've been into the offices of some big software companies and media companies in London and in some, not all, they have people who are predominantly private school educated and white. Of course no individual needs to apologise for their level of education or their race! However many companies can do better because they have structures that favour hiring people who are the same, not just racially but also preferring people from the same middle class social class. This means if you are qualified and talented but are indian, asian, black or white working class or white immigrant, if you're lucky to get to the interview stage, you will be weeded out there. At one media media company i worked at earlier this in a central multicultural London location had a floor with almost 100 staff, out of the lot only FOUR were people of colour. It's not to say the other staff were not capable, but people who were and are capable were not being given a fair chance to get a job.

I understand the concern that a person who isn't capable will be hired to meet a criteria but what is more common is to be so capable, so skilled, so passionate and to not be given a fair chance - and that stings deep because it is so unfair.

[morganfell]

You have to insure no one is being overlooked or treated unfairly based on race, creed, color, sex, religion, or social position. Absolutely 1000%. But neither can you hire based on those factors. One practice is as evil and as stupid as the other.

We also have to stop this one sided silliness of claiming that certain persons cannot head up a particular project (game, TV, Movie, whatever) because they are not of the race, creed, color etc that the story is about or their status and preferences relates to the main character. This apparently is a one way street in the entertainment industry. If people wish to toe that ridiculous and absurd line then lets do so all the way and to the extreme so that everyone is treated exactly the same. Its called being equal. Certain people lose their minds on some sides of an issue when they realize that equality actually means no special treatment.

And along with this is the destructive idiocy that is ripping literary and film characters from their history for the sake of diversity.

[VenomUK]

morganfell, I hear what you are saying about characters in literature and other media and the issue for change solely for inclusion. However there is a tendency for people to conflate that and the discussion of left and right politics and representation too. But all that is actually different from the lack of fairness with company employment practices that stop a talented man or woman getting their foot in the door. I don't say there are problems based on subjective opinion I formed from reading an article or watching the news; I say this because I have seen it and I've experienced it.

[morganfell]

There is no conflating whatsoever when such actions and their results are connected to the core of the diversification issue. Perhaps there are those that do not grasp the interconnectivity. But there are definitely certain persons that wish to poke their head in the sand and ignore how they are intertwined, or they would rather pretend the matter of diversification has no destructive aspects.

[Name Last Name]

So you think, up to this moment, people have only been hired based on talent? The answer is the problem.

[morganfell]

"So you think, up to this moment, people have only been hired based on talent? The answer is the problem."

No. Prejudice has been employed. But here is the shocker. Not all of the time. Likely not most of the time. Just as people are accused of not seeing discrimination when it occurs, so do certain people always see it even when none exists. Sometimes...you just are not good enough. So the answer isn't the problem in my case. People looking to pick a fight over something non-existent are more of an issue. I am not saying discriminatory hiring does not occur either. I am saying your question is the problem.

And If you bothered to read my replies, you will understand that I think any hiring practice to be abhorrent if it considers the personal factors I listed in a previous reply above to be either qualifiers or grounds for rejection.

That said, if a person that is highly qualified applies for a position, that alone isn't enough. Creative companies have to possess vision and they should be allowed to exclude without repercussion, candidates whose concepts do not align with where the company wishes to go. Such rejection should be allowed not based upon any race, creed, religion, etc but the idea that a position requires interjection of a personal nature and sometimes an individual's beliefs, if inflexible, would be detrimental to a chosen direction. It can hardly be expected for a person to pour their creativity into a project if it is something that runs counter to their own ideas. Yes having expanded or differing viewpoints can make a project better. But once a direction is chosen people have to get with the program and if they cannot then at that point hey do not need to be there as their presence is more disruptive than productive.

[Name Last Name]

“Yes having expanded or differing viewpoints can make a project better. But once a direction is chosen people have to get with the program and if they cannot then at that point hey do not need to be there as their presence is more disruptive than productive.”

But that is what has happened all this time. People that seem like they won’t agree with the company’s direction for varios reasons including race, orientation, religion are excluded. So I respectfully disagree. No, companies should not be allowed to exclude without repercussion. We have to force change until you have an accepting culture were no one sits in a corner feeling unheard and left behind.

[morganfell]

If you note what I stated, I specified sometimes people will not be a fit. Not always. Not most of the time. Sometimes. Also I cannot but shake my head concerning what I wrote in reference to people not realizing when it isn't discrimination.

And force a change? You mean force it with how you deem fit rather than what is necessarily correct. It is as if the side that built the company doesn't exist. It also begins to tread down the redistribution path. "I do not care how hard you worked to build your business I THINK...I FEEL what you are doing is wrong so we are here to force a change in YOUR business." That is really wonderful. Personally I am tired of shouldering the burden for people that will not get off their ass because they think society is not supposed to leave them behind. Instead of building their own company they want to force their way into a company and alter it to fit their ideas and completely destroy the foundations upon which it was built. And most of the time these companies were not built on the bones of the poor eternal victims either.

Here is another fact about equality. You do not always get your way and certain people on some sides of the issue actually do not comprehend this fact. They think equality is about always having their view in the forefront. Sometimes it means not getting your way and then defending the people who won out. The process is give AND take. Then again these same persons are ones that do not comprehend "I do not agree with what you are saying but I will defend to the death your right to say it." For them freedom of speech is you are free to say it as long as its something with which I agree and it doesn't hurt my feelings. With that this topic has worn thin. When people start traveling down the path of forcing things I am through. Enjoy.

[rainslacker]

A company the size of Ubisoft is already going to have the same obligatory non-discriminatory HR practices that every big company has. If there is fault in it, it's either a systemic thing within the company that isn't adhering to not only their official HR guidelines or common legal structures, or an individual matter that was found through the general operation of business. A company the size of Ubisoft can in no way completely keep poor practices from it's entire company. Thousands of employees, across multiple countries, and many different operations teams within each, means that there are always going to be something not doing everything 100% kosher.

Companies have a tendency to over compensate when something bad happens. Some will just say the obligatory, "We respect everyone, we'll fully investigate the matter", and so long as they do that properly, that should be the end of it. But nowadays, many people just don't respect that, and expect more, which is why we see more companies making more bold statements trying to appease this group that just can't accept they're probably never going to hear the real outcomes, or can't accept that no workplace is perfect.

EA got a lot of heat a while back, and they've been at the forefront of workplace diversity and equal opportunity hiring to the point of being written about it by almost every major publication. They've been the forerunner in this area, and especially the industry, for a couple decades now. Yet, they still get reports of not so nice behavior, or bad apples that spoil the bunch from time to time, and that often gets made into a much bigger thing than it actually is. Granted, some may argue this proactive stance by EA maybe proves your original comment true.:)

Seriously though, the bigger idea behind opening up to being more receptive to more diversity means improving the number of qualified candidates. But in the end, I'm a firm believer that the most qualified should get the job. Sadly, in the tech industry, and more specifically games, in most western countries, that's going to be well educated white men, because they're the ones that are applying more by a wide margin. After well educated white men, you have asian and indian men, followed by women of all those races in the same order, although asian and indian women are much less frequent. That has more to do with this interconnected social structure that you bring up....which many people completely disregard as a factor.

[Name Last Name]

(commented in wrong thread)

[monkey602]

"Recently heard about"

Yeah okay guys, like we believe that!

[Blank]

Clearly this is the very first time he has heard of these problems! That’s why he is doing his first wide spread announcement. /s

[monkey602]

Oh totally! And they certainly haven't made attempts to cover up issues within the company by moving offenders to new offices and keeping it all hush 😒

Definitely news to their ears

[Games1st]

Changing work culture starts from the top.

[RaiderNation]

Don't get me wrong, the changes he's talking about is great. However when I saw the headline I was hoping he was talking about improving the quality of their games.

[Dirtnapstor]

I’m sure this stems from sexual harassment in the work place, which should never be a tolerated issue to begin with. But I will add, people need to stop wearing their feelings on the shoulders, or get “offended” over the little things that are essentially nonsense. That being said, this does not give a free license to be rude or crass.
Diversity and inclusion. I understand this to a degree, but how about just focus on those that are qualified for the job vs checking all possible boxes. I know that life is not fair, it was never meant to be. Whose fault is it really when certain boxes can’t be filled? #talentmatters

[Vengeance1138]

Why not just hire the best, most talented person for the job regardless of race? Does this mean that they will hire people solely based on color/race, even if they arent the best option for the job?

[gigzamillion]

That's exactly what that means.

[aaronaton]

"Head of Diversity".... Well, i haven't purchased a Ubisoft title since HAZE on PS3, and i definitely don't intend of making any in the future.

[frostypants]

What does that role even mean? Spend 5 minutes looking at employee demographics and saying "go get more of X"? Not sure how that even makes the product better. As long as the company makeup reflects the demographic distribution of the profession as a whole I don't see the point. If we want more diversity in development, encourage more people to get educated in it.

[aaronaton]

It's actually racist to consider someone over another due to their race, it should be called "Head of Hipocrisy"

[SegaSaturn669]

As long as they make good games, it can be the Epstein foundation for all I care.

[LightofDarkness]

And your fetishising of products and commodities is why the world is in the toilet.

[SegaSaturn669]

Personally, I blame mind control space aliens from planet Boner. But you do you.

[morganfell]

Hardly. Although your lack of humor is contributing to the cesspool. You might want to dig around in a drawer and see if you can locate a spare box of laughter.

[LightofDarkness]

I'll see what I can scrape off the bottom of my shoe, manchild.

[MWH]

I hope we see another Child of Light game.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

That was exactly what I though about when I was reading Yves' letter...

[jbrock11]

"Here at Ubisoft, we're focused on being as diverse and inclusive as possible! That way we can fleece everyone equally!"

[cheetah]

Just hire the best people for the job mate, like the NBA and NFL.

[starchild]

No way, man. I was looking forward to seeing more Asians, Caucasians and Latinos in the NBA. I also think we need more female plumbers and construction workers.

[AK91]

'Diversity & Inclusion' yeah that's not going to go well at all prepare for more allegations and bad PR for your company Mr Guillemot.

[Aaroncls7]

who gives a shit about this woke crap anymore

[HaVoK308]

Head of diversity? Fair well UBIsoft. Goodbye work ethic, skill, talent, etc. Hello based on how you look and what’s between your legs. What a successful strategy this has been. Yves should step down. Give his job, home, and life style to somebody more deserving based on their gender, sex, or race. Unless he’s just virtue signaling. Hmmmmm🤔

[ballisticvoodoo]

Shut the F up on your change. So what your telling everybody is you're going to hire black people to your company regardless of talent or education. How is this not raciest? It works both way dingabats. Racism is not exclusive to color. Grow a fucking brain.

[Cmoney007]

Here is some ideas to make Ubisoft better again:

1. We need a new quality Splinter Cell game because this series doesn't need to die.

2. What the hell happened to Rayman? Those games are weird and fun.

3. The new Rainbow Six game needs to have a single-player campaign.

Gaming companies can pander or care about any agenda, but a lot of consumers aren't going to be happy unless they start seeing more quality games that are worth buying.

[2ndhandcorn]

Stunning and brave soybisoft.

[L7CHAPEL]

well thank God,
for all of us people that don't give a shit about their internal problems and strife,
and really would just like to see them get their shit together as far as making better quality games, and be more consistent with releases/updates/QA...

other than that?
yeah, great news.
glad to hear it.
go team 🎉 🙄

[brando008]

Please just hire people based on their skills and talent, not their ethnicity or gender. I feel like these checklists just draw more lines in the sand. Hire the best, and treat each other with respect in a professional environment, it's really not that hard.