Yves Guillemot via Ubisoft North America YouTube
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot claims that his company is not pushing “any specific agenda” despite the company’s website saying otherwise.
A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft
In a press release, where Ubisoft revealed it was revising its expected Q2 net bookings down from €500 to €350-370 million due to poor sales from Star Wars Outlaws along with announcing a delay for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Guillemot first revealed the company was going to launch a review of itself.
He said, “In the light of recent challenges, we acknowledge the need for greater efficiency while delighting players. As a result, beyond the first important short-term actions undertaken, the Executive Committee, under the supervision of the Board of Directors, is launching a review aimed at further improving our execution, notably in this player-centric approach, and accelerating our strategic path towards a higher performing model to the benefit of our stakeholders and shareholders.”
A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft
He then concluded his remarks, “Finally, let me address some of the polarized comments around Ubisoft lately. I want to reaffirm that we are an entertainment-first company, creating games for the broadest possible audience, and our goal is not to push any specific agenda. We remain committed to creating games for fans and players that everyone can enjoy.”
Guillemot repeated this prepared remark word-for-word during the company’s Trading Update Call.
A screenshot from XDefiant (2023), Ubisoft
However, this is an obvious lie as Ubisoft’s website makes it very clear it does have a specific agenda. On the company’s Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility page, a statement from Raashi Sikka, Ubisoft’s Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion says, “For Ubisoft, putting diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do means providing an environment where employees can thrive, building open-minded communities where players can connect, and creating games that reflect the diversity of the world we live in.”
“We will not accomplish all these goals overnight. Just as it takes years of iteration to develop a AAA title, we will only become a more diverse and inclusive company by continuously improving, trying new ideas and learning from the results. It’s a long-term commitment, one that we will tackle with the same passion and dedication that we bring to our games,” she adds.
A screenshot from Ubisoft’s Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility website
Furthermore, the site declares, “We want to build the most creative, inclusive, and diverse teams across all fields. We will continue to increase representation in our company by building more inclusion across our systems and ensuring equal access to opportunities for everyone.”
It also asserts, “We will create gaming experiences that push representation forward by embedding diversity and inclusion across our processes, increasing representation in our teams, and offering access to resources that help teams to build more authentic inclusive, and accessible gaming experiences.”
Finally, it also states, “We will set the standard for inclusion for our teams, players, and partners, and will collaborate with leading organizations to expand our knowledge, grow our reach, give back to the community and champion inclusion in our industry.”
A screenshot from Ubisoft’s Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility website
In 2023, the company also made it clear it had a “focus on queer representation in games.”
It stated, “As the Inclusive Games and Content Team works to accompany production teams, helping them identify opportunities to tell inclusive stories at the beginning stages of production, they are reflecting in particular on how to provide frameworks and best practices for authentic queer representation.”
“For instance, [Senior Manager of the Inclusive Games and Content Team Maya] Loréal and her team have built a resource that helps production teams make more inclusive character creators for games that do not label physical traits or link voices to particular bodies, and they help production teams connect with experts who are cultural insiders from the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The company also stated it was working with Temple University’s Department of Media Studies and Production Professor as well as a member of GLAAD’s Gaming Advisory Council Professor Adrienne Shaw “to build out their resources for developers even more, with a particular emphasis on showing diverse queer representation, experiences, and identities that are not limited to one character.”
A screenshot from Ubisoft’s Together in Pride 2023 Blog Post
On top of this, the company has allegedly been engaging in illegal activity by discriminating against men for almost half a decade. The company’s Develop at Ubisoft program declares that in order to be eligible for it you must “identify as a woman or a non-binary individual.”
Screenshot of Eligibility Criteria for Develop at Ubisoft mentorship program
Legal analyst Andrew Esquire notes “this is illegal.” He adds, “This is not okay. And this is something they’re going to get in trouble for and they should by the way.”
He then recommended that anyone who was victimized by Ubisoft to contact a law firm and sue them, “So Ubisoft did something illegal. What I think is that somebody who is actually damaged by that, who is not picked for mentorship or leadership should bring a case. I think there’s law firms like the America First Legal team down in Texas that would be willing to take that. They’ve already taken the Disney case, why not take that one? Seems like it’d be a good case for them.”
What do you make of Guillemot’s comments and his claim that Ubisoft is not pushing an agenda?
