Ubisoft isn’t out of trouble yet, as another high-profile executive has been officially let go. The ongoing Ubisoft sexual misconduct scandal which began back in June has resulted in a series of executive firings and resignations. Now Tommy Francois, the vice president of editorial and former creative director, has been let go. His termination comes after being placed on a month of unpaid leave, pending an internal investigation.
The news of Francois’ departure was originally discovered in an internal email issued by Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. Business Insider received and reported on the story, which Ubisoft later confirmed. Tommy Francois was just one of several high-profile executives dismissed from the company.
Francois allegedly spoke about masturbation around colleagues in addition to making unwanted physical contact with female employees. Based upon the outcome of the investigation, those allegations and possibly more appear to be validated.
A bunch of bad apples
Interestingly enough, Francois worked under Serge Hascoet and alongside Maxime Beland, both of whom also departed as a result of the Ubisoft sexual misconduct scandal. Hascoet was accused of minimizing female protagonists in addition to shutting down games he didn’t personally didn’t like. Beland’s issues were far worse, as he was accused of manipulating younger female employees to sleep with him. In another case, he even went as far as to punch a female employee in the face. An employee, Cecile Cornet was also mentioned in regards to sexual misconduct, though she has only been reassigned within Ubisoft.
Tommy Francois, Serge Hascoet, and Maxime Beland wielded significant influence as creative directors and senior staff in the editorial department at Ubisoft. Francois boasted nearly 14 years of experience himself at the company and worked on all of the major franchises like Watch Dogs, Assassin’s Creed, and more.
Hopefully the outcome of the Ubisoft scandal will be enough to improve conditions for women in the industry.
