500 Ubisoft Members Sign Letter Supporting Protests Against Activision Blizzard Condemning Abuses: “We No Longer Trust Your Commitment”
500 Ubisoft Members Sign Letter Supporting Protests Against Activision Blizzard Condemning Abuses: “We No Longer Trust Your Commitment”
The strike carried out yesterday by Activision Blizzard workers has caused a major repercussion in the industry. Bobby Kotick , CEO of the company, made his first statements after jumping the controversy and now it is the employees of Ubisoft who position themselves.
As reported by Axios , around 500 members of the French company , both current and former, have signed a letter of support for the protests of Activision Blizzard workers and condemn how Ubisoft has handled cases of abuse and harassment of the company.
Ubisoft has been involved in situations similar to those reported against Activision and issued a statement indicating its awareness of what happened and pointing to solutions to eradicate these problems. This is the full text of the Ubisoft staff, signed by people working in 32 studios spread across Asia, Europe and North America; The letter will be sent to Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft:
To Activision Blizzard workers,
We listen to you and want to declare our solidarity with you out loud. Over the past week, the video game industry has been rocked once again by revelations that have long been known to us. Revelations that a year ago many heard about Ubisoft. It is clear from the frequency of these reports that there is a pervasive and deeply ingrained culture of abusive behavior within the industry. It should no longer surprise anyone: employees, executives, journalists or fans, these heinous acts are happening. It is time to stop being surprised. We must demand that real measures be taken to prevent them. Those responsible must be held accountable for their actions.
We believe you, we are with you and we support you.
To the direction of Ubisoft,
We, the undersigned, have had enough. It has been over a year since the first disclosures of systemic discrimination, harassment and bullying within Ubisoft. At that time, you acted surprised to hear about these acts within your own company and we give you the benefit of the doubt. Yet we have seen nothing more than a year of kind words, empty promises, and an inability or unwillingness to eliminate known offenders. We no longer trust your commitment to address these issues at their core. You need to do more.
That doesn’t mean more training sessions being ignored by the people who need them most, and that doesn’t mean more guarantees and kind words. It means real and shocking action. The only way to fix something so ingrained is to remove the pillars that are complicit in it, either by actively participating or supporting it.
This is not just a matter of running a process, focus groups, public relations management, or education. It is about people’s lives, their physical and mental health. By choosing profit over our safety you are literally gambling with our lives. We should not have to choose between work and our safety.
We have stayed on the sidelines and we have seen you fired most of the public offenders. You let the rest of them quit or worse, you promoted them, moved them from studio to studio, from team to team, giving them second chance after second chance with no repercussions. This cycle must stop. We the collective employees of Ubisoft demand a seat at the table when it comes to deciding how to move on from here. Violators should be removed from the company, along with those who were complicit or deliberately ignorant of the actions of others. As management, it is your role to see these events in progress and take action. Ignorance is not an excuse, not in the law and certainly not in the eyes of your employees.
We need real and fundamental changes, within Ubisoft, within Activision Blizzard, and across the industry world.
To this end, we propose that Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, and other leading industry publishers and developers collaborate and agree to a set of rules and processes for handling reports of these crimes. This collaboration must heavily involve employees in non-administrative activities. union officials and representatives. This is essential to ensure that those who are directly affected by these behaviors are leading the change.
Signed by the following current and former Ubisoft employees. Many of which have left due to stated conditions and the lack of action being takenkplace where they feel valued, supported and, most importantly, insurance.
How catfish fishing has become my key to understanding Magic (and all the new cards that have now come to my hands)
Ubisoft’s response: 500 Ubisoft Members Sign Letter Supporting Protests Against Activision Blizzard Condemning Abuses: “We No Longer Trust Your Commitment”
The French company has also made its own statement , claiming to have read what its employees have to say and showing its commitment to the future. Here is the full content of his statement, also shared by Axios :
We have carefully read the letter signed by former and current Ubisoft employees. We have deep respect for the commitment of our teams that are driving change within our industry. We want it to be very clear that we take this letter, and the issues it raises, very seriously. Over the past year, we have been committed to engaging with our employees to implement fundamental changes. Many of these changes have been driven by internal feedback and knowledge shared by our teams and we are grateful for this ongoing communication.
Ubisoft has made significant and important changes that seek to create a safe and inclusive work environment for all, and there is still work to be done. We absolutely support these efforts and the positive impact they have had on our company culture, while recognizing that we must continue to interact with our employees to ensure that we are creating a wor
