There’s been a bit of a reckoning at Ubisoft since widespread allegations of workplace impropriety were revealed earlier this year. The managing director at Ubisoft Singapore, Hugues Ricour, has been removed from that position according to a leaked internal company e-mail exposed by Kotaku. In it, a “leadership audit” was mentioned that lead to Ricour’s removal.
Ricour had been acting as Ubisoft Singapore’s managing director since 2018. The studio was primarily focused on Skull & Bones, the long-in-development pirate action game that aims to return to the well that fans so fondly dove into for Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. There have been shake-ups with that game, and just this year, it apparently shifted to a focus on live service. It seems fair to say that development has seen rough seas.
The beat goes on
That’s not all Ricou oversaw at the studio, however, as the team had also been helping out on the upcoming Immortals: Fenyx Rising and the Assassin’s Creed series. The internal e-mail announced the change as thus: “Effective immediately, Hugues Ricour is no longer Managing Director of Ubisoft Singapore. 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.” Regardless, the studio promises a smooth transition to new management, which would come as no surprise considering the last six months.
However, Ricou hasn’t been removed from the company. “We can confirm that Hugues Ricour is both stepping down from his role as MD and also leaving the Singapore studio, but will remain at Ubisoft,” a spokesperson for Ubisoft told Kotaku.
With this, I hope that development on Skull & Bones will continue without further issue, as the title has been a long time coming. Despite that, the game is still said to be a good ways off, so fans shouldn’t exactly hold their breath.
