Two union representatives are calling for the resignation of Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
From falling share prices to game cancellations to a complete restructuring of the company, Ubisoft has found itself in a precarious situation when it comes to its future. In a recent interview with Game Developer, Marc Rutschlé and Chakib Mataoui spoke about Ubisoft’s struggles and where the company can go from here.
In short, it starts at the top where a change has to be made.
“It’s his company, at the end of the day,” Rutschlé said while adding that Guillemot has surrounded himself with “yes men”. “That was also the issue during the sexual [harassment] scandal in 2020.”
Mataoui then spoke about about Guillemot making his son, Charlie, co-CEO of Vantage Studios. Mataoui believes that the lack of any diversity at the top is what’s keeping the company from making successful games.
“If you just put your white male friends in [those jobs], then you don’t promote any diversity or get any new opinions or ideas,” Mataoui said. “We are in a creative job. We need new ideas to come in to [help us] make great new games. But we don’t have that. We don’t have this mindset for creativity.”
Mataoui says it’s a matter of trust within the company. Right now, he says, they don’t trust those in charge to right the ship.
A lot of that, according to the pair, stems from how the company handled the allegations against it in 2020 and beyond. They say that they created “a workplace where abusers could thrive.”
“I think Guillemot should move away at this point,” Rutschlé said. “I think the level of hate people have for him [means] he should move on. Then, we could build some sort of trust again.”
Employees at Ubisoft have already voted to strike against the proposed layoffs at the company. From February 10-12, the France-based unions along with their international counterparts plan to strike.
What do you think Ubisoft and CEO Yves Guillemot should do? Leave your thoughts down in the comments and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming Discord.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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Yes he should have been removed years ago he and his whole family guess Tencent can buy it out then. Tencent invested $1 billion into a spin-off Vantage with Ubisoft that investment is 25% of Vantage somehow Ubisoft is worth less than that around or less than €600 million. Even worse they spent over $500 million on Beyond Good And Evil 2 development almost the price of the company. CDProjekt is another mess I won’t forget the lying to consumers and shareholders with Cyberpunk2077 even worse people ran back to support it.